The Rise of Man: What was the ultimate success formula for us as a species?

by Alex Vikoulov [Posted August 21, 2021 08.00 pm PST]

“Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God's gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.”  ―Freeman Dyson
 

​Technology has always been a “double-edged sword” since fire, which has kept us warm and cooked our food but also burned down our huts. Today, we surely enjoy the fruits of modern civilization when we fly halfway around the globe on an airbus, when we extend our mental functionality with a whole array of Internet-enabled devices, when our cities and dwellings become icons of technological sophistication. 

​Thanks to technology, rightly viewed as our extended phenotype, we’re actually living in the most peaceful, abundant, civilized time in history, and things are likely to continue getting better, as data suggests. As we now gradually transcend our biology, we are, in actuality, more than users of technology, we are “reproductive organs” of technology. We are Homo technicus as much as Homo sapiens.
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Video: TECHNOCULTURE: The Rise of Man, The Cybernetic Theory of Mind Series - Ecstadelic Media (cc)

Merging with Artificial Intelligence is arguably the next evolutionary step for humanity. There’s nothing unnatural about that: AI is a natural extension of us, organic intelligence. In the same way that culture co-evolved with larger brains, we will co-evolve with our creations. We always have: Humans would be physically different if we had not invented fire or spears.

​Evolutionarily, just as RNA survived by being incorporated by DNA, and unicellular microbes survived the multicellularity explosion by symbiotically co-existing with higher lifeforms and by being incorporated into their microbiome, we can figure out ways to become superintelligences ourselves by assimilating the transcendent aspects of artificiality that otherwise could easily become a mastermind, both in control of us and out of control.

At the dawn of artificial superintelligence, humanity is trying to not only find its place again, but to do the inevitable, the inescapable and previously inconceivable – merging with technology we created. We are now birthing a new intelligent species on this planet and rebirthing ourselves in the process.

More and more people are becoming mesmerized by their digital creations, literally extensions of themselves, and developing more of a personal relationship with them, a clear trend towards the merger of human and machine intelligence. This merger will open gateways to unimaginable vistas of self-exploration, empowerment and hope for the human enterprise.

- Excerpt from TECHNOCULTURE: The Rise of Man, The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series by Alex M. Vikoulov, available now as eBook on Amazon:
​https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HC9385J
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P.S. What we’ll soon see is the ultimate self-directed evolution fueled forward by gene editing, genetic engineering, reproduction assisted technology, neuro-engineering, mind uploading and creation of artificial life. Our success as a technological species essentially created what might be called our species-specific “success formula.” We devised tools and instruments, created new methodologies and processes, and readjusted ecological niches to suit our needs. And our technology shaped us back by shaping our minds. In a very real sense, we have co-evolved with our technology. As an animal species among many other species competing for survival, this was our unique passage to success.

Tags: technoculture, rise of man, Freeman Dyson, extended phenotype, AI, Homo sapiens, Homo technicus, artificial intelligence, RNA, DNA, superintelligence, machine intelligence, gene editing, genetic engineering, neuroengineering, reproduction assisted technology, mind uploading, artificial life, technological species, success formula

​Image Credit: Shutterstock​​


​About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a Russian-American futurist, evolutionary cyberneticist and philosopher of mind; CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Ecstadelic Media Group, filmmaker, author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution," "The Origins of Us: Evolutionary Emergence and The Omega Point Cosmology," "The Physics of Time: D-Theory of Time & Temporal Mechanics," "The Intelligence Supernova: Essays on Cybernetic Transhumanism, The Simulation Singularity & The Syntellect Emergence," "Theology of Digital Physics: Phenomenal Consciousness, The Cosmic Self & The Pantheistic Interpretation of Our Holographic Reality," "NOOGENESIS: Computational Biology," 'TECHNOCULTURE: The Rise of Man," "The Cybernetic Singularity: The Syntellect Emergence." Self-described neo-transcendentalist, cosmist, transhumanist singularitarian. Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area). More Bio...

Author Website: www.alexvikoulov.com

e-mail: [email protected]
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