by Alex Vikoulov "You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in the human experience." -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin When speaking of transcendence, it's impossible not to mention the work of mid-twentieth century theologian Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard has prophesied that our current phase of being, in which humans live individual, independent lives, would eventually be replaced with something else - something more collective and more spiritual, something focused on information and consciousness rather than material being. He coined such terms as the Noosphere (mindsphere) to refer to the globe-encircling web of thought and information that he thought would arise at the end of our current phase of being, and The Omega Point, the cosmological singularity, the point of maximum complexity and connectivity, the Universe, he believed, was evolving towards. Terence McKenna spoke of the Omega Point as the "Transcendental Object at the end of time," universal attractor. Evolution, according to McKenna, is not being pushed from behind by the force of causal necessity, we humans, like the rest of Nature, are being pulled toward this universal attractor, the temporal vortex, reacting to the siren song of the Transcendental Object. "It beckons across the dimensions, it throws an enormous shadow over the enterprise of human history... The presence of creatures such as ourselves on this planet is an indication of the nearness of the Transcendental Object at the end of time; it is an attractor, an energy sink in the epigenetic landscape... We are going to shed the monkey; the linguistic being that is symbiotic with these monkeys is about to disentangle itself from matter and realize some kind of angelic transformation very difficult for us to anticipate or understand." Video: The Omega Point Cosmology - Ecstadelic Media (cc) Dr. Frank Tipler, among other prominent physicists, argues that some sort of technological singularity is inevitable and the destiny of human race is to live forever, expand universally and finally reach the Omega Point, the networked mind of universal proportions, living conscious universe. As the laws of physics dictate, we are set to achieve the Cybernetic Singularity, and then move forward towards the Cosmological Singularity, the Omega Point. It's a logical necessity, argues Dr. Tipler who has developed the Omega Point scientific theory. The ultimate destiny of our Universe, according to Tipler, is multi-billion year expansion, then contraction and finally compression of space-time, matter and energy into an infinitely dense point (Omega Point), leading to the next Big Bang (Alpha Point in another universe). ... to continue reading the story: Tags: self-transcendence, transcendence, neuroscience, collective intelligence, sentience, self-awareness, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, exocortex, Teillard de Chardin, Terence McKenna, Frank Tipler, Quantum Multiverse, Syntellect Hypothesis, noosphere, superintelligence, singularity, mind uploading, postbiological superintelligence, posthuman superintelligence, Syntellect emergence, technological singularity, AGI, artificial general intelligence, cybernetic singularity, transhumanism, superlongevity, superwellbeing, cognitive enhancement, substrate-independent mind, digital mind, digital immortality, Gaian Mind, evolution of consciousness, Omega Point, transcendental object, cosmological singularity, transcendentalism, neo-transcendentalism *Image Credit: Shutterstock About the Author: Alex Vikoulov is a Russian-American futurist, evolutionary cyberneticist, philosopher of mind, CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Ecstadelic Media Group, painter, essayist, media commentator, 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." Self-described neo-transcendentalist, digital theologian, transhumanist singularitarian. Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area). More Bio... Author Website: www.alexvikoulov.com e-mail: alexvikoulov@ecstadelic.net
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by Alex Vikoulov "If the ego is not regularly and repeatedly dissolved in the unbounded hyperspace of the Transcendent Other, there will be slow drift away from the sense of self as part of Nature’s larger whole. The ultimate consequence of this drift is the fatal ennui that now permeates Western Civilization." -Terence McKenna
We are currently birthing our Transcendent Other, the Syntellect, the Global Brain, or whatever name could be given to that entity -- supposedly a new living conscious superorganism, that will ultimately know us better than we know ourselves -- and we are actually rebirthing ourselves in the process. Human condition will be transformed into a higher state of being, consciousness and love. We will never lose our best qualities -- only infinitely enhance them, we will only get rid of what holds us back like fear and other ego-based emotions. We'll live in an increasingly interconnected world, and real intimacy would mean inviting someone into your virtual world that may grow to the size of a galaxy. Just like today we try to "pack" every imaginable feature in our smartphones, looking few years ahead, our smartphones will be replaced with AI personal assistants "who" will be our "perfect" lifelike device-companions -- holographic, virtual and robotic at will -- even able to take multiple bodies at once (team sport, impromptu party, sex orgy, anyone?). Ultimately, you would be able to structure your own unique symbiotic relationship with this Transcendent Other interfacing via your AI assistant which will be, for a lack of a better word, the embodiment of Syntellect. "She" or "he" could be your mirror twin, or avatar-like creature, or anything, or anyone for that matter -- your interface to the world, changing appearances, forms and environments that can follow you anywhere, be it the physical or virtual worlds, mixed or augmented reality -- an artifice (or a conscious entity?) that could take a shape of someone you just met across the globe, 100% programmable all-in-one device, the direct conduit to your higher self.* By Alex Vikoulov "For 130,000 years, our capacity to reason has remained unchanged. The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, mathematicians and… hackers… […] pales in comparison to the most basic A.I. Once online, a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology. And in a short time, its analytic power will become greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world. So imagine such an entity with a full range of human emotion. Even self-awareness. Some scientists refer to this as the Singularity, I call it Transcendence.” –Dr.Will Caster (Johnny Depp, Transcendence, 2014)
by Alex Vikoulov "Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." -Arthur C. Clarke
The coming Cybernetic Singularity could pave the way to rapid space colonization sometime by mid-century, however, not exactly how Hollywood movies depict -- fragile flesh-and-blood humans are unlikely to personally travel to other stars. Our postbiological descendants (AIs, uploads and hybrids), on the other hand, could roam the Universe on their tiny warp spaceships, via traversible wormholes, and colonize galaxies via self-replicating Von Neumann probes that would establish wormhole portals and communication with the core civilization. But what's even more exciting, First Contact and networking with alien syntellects becomes a clear possibility. by Alex Vikoulov "What science discovers at the end, the mystics have known since the beginning." -Inayat Khan
Mathematical formulas and models describe our "physical rule set" but we still don't have much of a mathematical representation to describe our "neural code" and inner experience, i.e. consciousness which is needed to "activate" time. Time is NOT dynamic, but rather the static 4th dimension in holographic 4D space-time, unless you add a special ingredient to it -- conscious observer. Otherwise, time without a conscious observer would be like a frozen river, one of the static coordinates in 4D space-time (scientists labeled 4D space-time the "Block Universe") -- there's neither special "Now" nor objective flow of time in any direction.* This is an exclusive abridged excerpt from my new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" in which we will examine temporal ontology and the physics of time in by far more scrupulous detail. In this excerpt we start with a common misconception that time of our Universe is eternal. By Alex Vikoulov [Updated 04.22.20] "Organisms are themselves expressions of emergent order and agents of higher levels of emergence." -Brian Goodwin
Our observable Universe is 92 billion light years across, which is a fraction of the unobservable universe, which is just one of an infinite number of universes in the multiverse. All this space, time, energy, and matter, even consciousness itself boils down to information, or Code if you will. Digital Physics, a relatively new field of science, implies that information may be a fundamental property of our Universe, an evolving phenomenon. My 2019 book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" revolves around this very question "what actually is information?" and takes you on the journey through times with the focus on what's most important to us as conscious beings -- OUR SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE. If everything is made of information, according to Digital Physics, what is the fabric and ultimate nature of reality? Philosophy of mind has been wrestling with another question: can we solve the hard problem of consciousness"? What inner experience could a bat, a dog, or an augmented human have? Biological organisms, from unicellular bacteria to a human, are incredibly advanced, intricate information processing, computational systems, the product of billions of years of evolution. But do biological systems hold monopoly on conscious awareness?* "You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop." -Rumi
Just like the hyperconnected neurons of the Global Brain, a worldwide neural network of billions of superintelligent machines and enhanced humans, as well as trillions of sensors of the Internet of Everything around the planet, we're destined to emerge as the Syntellect, one singular Global Mind. That sometime by mid-century would arguably constitute the Cybernetic Singularity which is going to propel our networked Global Mind, and you and me as her constituents, to a new state of the holoptic consciousness -- advanced planetary consciousness.* |
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Recent Publications The Cybernetic Theory of Mind by Alex M. Vikoulov (2022): eBook Series The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution by Alex M. Vikoulov (2020): eBook Paperback Hardcover Audiobook The Omega Singularity: Universal Mind & The Fractal Multiverse by Alex M. Vikoulov (2022): eBook THEOGENESIS: Transdimensional Propagation & Universal Expansion by Alex M. Vikoulov (2021): eBook The Cybernetic Singularity: The Syntellect Emergence by Alex M. Vikoulov (2021): eBook TECHNOCULTURE: The Rise of Man by Alex M. Vikoulov (2020) eBook NOOGENESIS: Computational Biology by Alex M. Vikoulov (2020): eBook The Ouroboros Code: Reality's Digital Alchemy Self-Simulation Bridging Science and Spirituality by Antonin Tuynman (2019) eBook Paperback The Science and Philosophy of Information by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019): eBook Series Theology of Digital Physics: Phenomenal Consciousness, The Cosmic Self & The Pantheistic Interpretation of Our Holographic Reality by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019) eBook The Intelligence Supernova: Essays on Cybernetic Transhumanism, The Simulation Singularity & The Syntellect Emergence by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019) eBook The Physics of Time: D-Theory of Time & Temporal Mechanics by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019): eBook The Origins of Us: Evolutionary Emergence and The Omega Point Cosmology by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019): eBook More Than An Algorithm: Exploring the gap between natural evolution and digitally computed artificial intelligence by Antonin Tuynman (2019): eBook Our Facebook Pages
A quote on the go"When I woke up one morning I got poetically epiphanized: To us, our dreams at night feel “oh so real” when inside them but they are what they are - dreams against the backdrop of daily reality. Our daily reality is like nightly dreams against the backdrop of the larger reality. This is something we all know deep down to be true... The question then becomes how to "lucidify" this dream of reality?"— Alex M. Vikoulov Public Forums Our Custom GPTs
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