BIOCOMPUTATION: A Conversation with J. Craig Venter, Ray Kurzweil, Rodney Brooks.

This 12,000 word article examines the new work being carried out by the partnership of the above three leading thinkers in the world of biotechnology.

Here is an extract:

"Ray Kurzweil believes "we are entering a new era. Some of us call it the Singularity. It's a merger between human intelligence and machine intelligence which is going to create something bigger than itself. It's the cutting edge of evolution on our planet. One can make a strong case that it's actually the cutting edge of the evolution of intelligence in general, because there's no indication that it has occurred anywhere else. To me that is what human civilization is all about. It is part of our destiny, and part of the destiny of evolution, to continue to progress ever faster and to grow the power of intelligence exponentially."

It also includes web-broadcasts of their speeches: a recommended read/listen

Technology could grow beyond human control, warns Millennium report:

"The State of the Future 2005 report is produced by the United Nations University's Millennium Project - a global think tank of foresight experts, academics and policy makers. It analyses current global trends and examines in detail some of the current and future challenges facing the world.

Setting the scene, the report states: 'Future synergies among nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science can dramatically improve the human condition by increasing the availability of food, energy and water and by connecting people and information anywhere. The effect will be to increase collective intelligence and create value and efficiency while lowering costs."

Only 1,000 years ago, all of humankind, their livestock and pets, represented just 0.1% of the vertebrate life mass on the planet. By 2050, if we do nothing but survive, this number will exceed 85%. And if our computers spring to life and join us, our livestock and our pets, then in total we will represent 99.9%. In just 1000 years, the balance of life on planet Earth will have been inverted by us and our technology, and evolution will have taken a giant leap.

This scenerio seems to suggest a symbiosis, a merged evolution between our technology and us: the question is whether it will be a self-organising shift or one engineered by us.

'All biological organisms function as information processors. They take in information about their environment, process it, and use it to locate the necessary energy sources for survival' (Peter Cochrane).

This assertion is neither new nor surprising. We have known for a long time that the human being is comprised of the most wondrous information processes - DNA is our biological computer. So the question that raises its promethian head is about the shape of the next stage of our evolution.

Many voices call towards AI - robotic intelligence, perhaps met mid-way through cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) that merge the biological with silicon (or 'synthetic' as some refer to it). Perhaps a useful standpoint is to recognise that all materiality - whether 'natural' or 'synthetic' - is produced from an arrangement of atoms. If atoms can be arranged, engineered, to be more proficient information processors, then this might be the edge in terms of what signifies future directions. Molecular engineering is now working upon nano-computers, and work is being undertaken to merge this with the biological.

Nanoscientists and biochemical engineers are starting to play with DNA not as replicating code, but as physical tools for nanoassembly. This shift towards nano-computing entails a re-thinking of what is considered to be human. If our theological debates have entrusted us with the knowledge that our species were made in God's image, then what if this was a clue (omen?) to a future scenerio where the human is able to re-design itself in order to become a more efficient information-processor with computational-like abilities. The atoms, molecular level, of material existence is both more wondrous than we presently know, yet also the building blocks of our backyard. Perhaps the shift towards a silicon-based intelligence is merely a product of our present industrial-computational mindset yet misses the link. The link being that biological DNA will be tweeked and engineered into the most efficient computational system whilst securing the biological resonance and relationship with the environment that is afforded a species that has evolved for millions of years in conjunction with its mileu, unlike AI intelligence.

The question remains as to whether the future will be one of Info-Tech or Bio-Tech - or a symbiosis of both?

Popular blogosphere blogger Joi Ito reports on a conversation with Dr. Roger Payne, the president of Ocean Alliance, a MacArthur-winning whale researcher. It turns out that Humpback whales riff off each other, remixing one another's songs, and developing trends and fashions in their singing over time:

"He explained to me that Humpback Whales sang beautiful songs. They copy from each other, remixing the songs and add to the songs. These songs evolve over time and riffs get passed from whale to whale across the world. The songs have lots of interesting variations and even have rhymes. He made an interesting observation that the whale songs of the 60's were much more beautiful than the whale songs these days." Posted at Joi Ito's Web

Also - link to Ocean Alliance's site.

So, why are the songs not as beautiful anymore: is the web of life becoming corrupted? Polluted? Singing, after all, reflects our happiness - like when we sing in the shower/bath... I hope our evolutionary shift is not losing it's beautiful song...

There is an interesting article/website called 'Building the Noosphere Network'

- this belongs to the Noosphere website which has some interesting information on our evolutionary shift towards collaborative intelligence:

"The Noosphere is an image that describes the consciousness of people who are aware --at the highest possible level-- of the sense of life and existence, and of their vocation and active role within this process. An essential characteristic of this Noosphere is that de people who are part of it communicate with each other --by several means, but nowadays mostly by Internet--, thus enhancing each other's consciousness about this fundamental information, and strengthening their sense of responsability and active involvement in the global evolutionary process.

The notion "Noosphere Society" includes all people on earth that are wholly conscious of the meaning of cosmic evolution, and aware of the personal implications of this reality, this evolutionary vocation. Those people spontaneously interact with each other, widening this circle and bringing people with the same vision in contact with each other. They communicate spontaneously, on a local, direct physical basis, but most probably primarily by Internet. Their meetings and contacts can be organized, but due to their sense of a "maximal" responsability, an essential aspect of the universal constructive attitude, they most probably elaborate such a synergy without official structures. So, probably, it's better to speak about a Network than about a Society, because the latter implies specific structures."

Washington Post writer Joel Garreau has an extract from his forthcoming book titled "Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human" in an article today called 'Inventing our Evolution'

It looks at some of the projects underway to affect the inner side of our evolution in terms of tampering with our metabolism and DNA. Again, a sign that science is asking the questions about the future but forgetting the central question: what it means to be human.

News channel NBC is running an interesting report called: 'Fast Forward - The Future of Evolution' - one of the recent articles is entitled 'Human Evolution at the Crossroads: Genetics, cybernetics complicate forcast for species'

Extract: 'Some think the rapid rise of genetic modification could be just such a circumstance. Others believe we could blend ourselves with machines in unprecedented ways — turning natural-born humans into an endangered species.'

On this site there are links to such interactive reports as: 'Before and After Humans' will looks at the possible genetically modified human species.

Interesting read

This is an interesting, surprising little book (mentioned earlier on this site) which demonstrates, using crystalline photo images, the effects that words and environments have upon the crystal-structure of water. Gentle words and environments create beautiful, geometrical, and harmonious arrangments. Whereas, harsh words and disruptive environments result in blurry and fuzzy molecular blobs of water. A wonderful way to see how one's thoughts and actions are reflected, received, and absorbed into all living structures around us. Thus assuring us once again that separation is an anthropocentric illusion.

The noosphere commentator and transhumanist Mark Pesce has created a wonderfully engaging full-length film called 'Becoming Transhuman' which runs for 1hr, 11 mins and is a free download from the site. It contains some wonderful cosmic images, as well as the thought-provoking narration.

If you have the time, Realplayer, and fancy a lesson in Transhumanist thought....

A new MA course has been set up by Andrew Cohen (founder of magazine 'What is Enlightenment) called: 'Master of Arts Degree in Conscious Evolution' - in conjunction with 'The Graduate Institute' in Milford, Connecticut, US. Interesting.....!

Although it does feature some of the authors previously mentioned on these pages, such as Duane Elgin, Elisabet Sahtouris, and Brian Swimme...

Is this another 'Mickey Mouse' education course, or is it a move in the right direction?

I have no experience of the course...so my judgment is in suspension.

Conscious evolution: in today's terms, literally and figuratively, we should consider: information, network, social connectivity, globality.

One response towards a networked global world is to see a shift from embedded, or mechanical, consciousness towards a self-reflective consciousness as a new basis for social relations. In the words of writer to Duane Elgin:

'A social system is composed of individuals. Thus, the behaviour of our social systems must of necessity mirror and embody the behaviour of the individuals who inhabit those systems... In contrast, the predictable outcome of self-regulating behaviour that flows from self-reflective consciousness seems to be a more gentle touching of people and the environment, coupled with a more self-organising social order at the grassroots level... the growth of social systems complexity is making the Conscious Evolution of consciousness necessary... as a society becomes ever more complex, and demands for self-regulating behaviour grow commensurately, that society must begin to draw out of its citizenry more expanded dimensions of human consciousness if it is to cope with that complexity democratically. In short, the growth of social complexity creates the necessity for an unfolding of human consciousness. This means that in order for a civilisation that is experiencing growing social complexity to continue to allow individuals to be relatively self-regulating, the individuals therein must develop their capacity to be effectively self-regulating at a pace at least equal to that at which the social order is becoming more complex. Self- reflective consciousness moves from the status of a spiritual luxury for the few in a more rudimentary and fragmented social setting to that of a social necessity for the many in a highly complex and enormously enlarged social setting ... Self-reflective consciousness represents both a simple and a complex response to the problems of mounting social complexity.'

Here, we are seeing a call for increased social agency through an increase in social learning due to the increased availability of information. We are being encouraged to become more self reflexive, which in turn implies more individual self-remembering and to be more conscious in our moment-to-moment lives. In this manner, we can be more creative, constructive, and influential both in our own lives and within a more networked, collective life. This is maybe one approach towards what has been referred to as the 'collective social Mind'. It is worth examining the phenomenon of blogging and mobile information users / receivers/ transmitters within this context of a more Conscious and Self- reflective, networked global world. It is the opinion of this writer that we, as individuals, need to become more conscious of our actions and to increase our self-consciousness within a participatory world.

If the human biological body has come to a pinnacle in its design (not incorporating genetic or molecular manipulation), then one must invariably look towards conscious development as the next realm...

individually we can see this to lie within our very own experiences:

'the purpose of human life must be to develop the entity by experience. In short, we are alive to learn...we are alive not merely to learn but also to develop our individual potential to the utmost' - Edward W. Russell - 'Design for Destiny'

And much of our experience is increasingly coming through social connectivity:

‘When we communicate and reflect among ourselves as citizens—publicly learning about and affirming our shared sentiments as an extended community—then we “know that we know.” In our dangerous and difficult time of global transition, it is not sufficient for civilizations to be wise; we must become “doubly wise” through social communication that clearly reveals our collective knowing to ourselves. Once there is a capacity for sustained and authentic social reflection, we will then have the means to achieve a shared understanding and a working consensus regarding appropriate actions for a positive future. Actions can then come quickly and voluntarily. We can mobilize ourselves purposefully, and each person can contribute his or her unique talents to building a life-affirming future. (Duane Elgin)

As our great metaphysical poet John Donne reminded us - no man is an island:

'No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde'

We are neither alone nor isolated - but must communicate, as a larger social body/organism, in order to evolve our collective consiousness. We must keep in touch.

Timothy Leary, in his book 'The Intelligence Agents' refers to Crowley when he says that:

"There are three ways to increase your intelligence:

1. Continually expand the scope, source, intensity of the information you receive.
2. Constantly revise your reality maps, and seek new metaphors about the future to understand what's happening now.
3. Develop external networks for increasing intelligence. In particular, spend all your time with people are smart or smarter than you. We assume that you are the Intelligence Agent from you gene pool, so you will seek Intelligence Agents from other gene-pools who will stimulate you to get smarter.

For further reference on Leary, check out the 'Fusion Anomaly' site

'Free Mojtaba and Arash Day'

22nd February 2005

For an informed and interesting article on collective intelligence & wisdom, there is this wonderful article (quite long) called 'Coming Together' - recommended

I've quoted from the futurist and thinker Barbera Marx Hubbard before: so I will again!

"Nature always creates new bodies for new frontiers; witness the sequence of bodies from fish to amphibians to mammals to humans, and now to universal humans. We are at the threshold of genuine newness. The only difference between us and other creatures who experienced a radical change is that we are entering the process consciously."

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious Evolution

For a short interview with her - check out this page of 'What is Enlightenment?'

The concept of collective intelligence is coming to the fore as perhaps the evolutionary potential, or directional drive, behind the Internet, as well as our burgeoning electronically networked social-sphere. Although I recognise that electronic access is still closed to many sectors of our global sphere, and beyond the capacity of many developing countries - this is changing. Negroponte's move towards a $100 computer is a step here.

One working definition of collective intelligence is:
'the enhancement, optimal use, and fusion of skill, imagination, and intellectual energy, regardless of their qualitative diversity. This idea of collective intelligence obviously involves the sharing of memory, imagination, and experience through the widespread exchange of knowledge, new forms of flexible organisation and co-ordination in real time.' (Pierre Levy)

As I've discussed before, there are now many sites and movements devoted to this cause. See 'The Transitioner' for an extensive site that summaries the arguments and understandings on this topic.

If humanity is increasingly able to share its collective memory externally and as both an open-source and a pooled-resource, then we have an important opportunity opening before us as for the first time in our recorded history we have a species-collective.

In this way, both cultural and social evolution is a distributed and collective affair. Since biological evolution has now been overtaken by conscious cultural evolution (see earlier blog referring to Freeman Dyson), our ever-accelerating intelligence-mutation can be in the hands of the many rather than the few.

This is not new either - it is merely the actualisation of the Over-Mind... the Noosphere. What is new is its actuality in our foreseeable future.

We can be both as the particle and the wave: as the individual and the whole. We are the physical manifestation of our quantum potentiality.

For an exquisite journey through the spheres, try this link into our cosmic nebula

The well-respected Freeman Dyson - of Princeton's 'Institute for Advanced Study' - has commented upon what has been postulated as the post-Darwinian era. Here, cultural evolution has overtaken biological evolution:

"cultural evolution has replaced biological evolution as the driving force of change. Cultural evolution is not Darwinian. Cultures spread by horizontal transfer of ideas more than by genetic inheritance. Cultural evolution is running a thousand times faster than Darwinian evolution, taking us into a new era of cultural interdependence" - quoted from 'The Darwinian Interlude'

Our progress, it is now being recognised, is being spearheaded by our spread of ideas, rather than genetic inheritance. And mobile communications are helping to foster this dramatic change. In turn, these technologies will allow for a greater dispertion of ideas, and thoughts, which can become as memes to influence our collective thought processes - a move towards a synergetic collective, global mind? What Teilhard de Chardin envisioned as the 'noosphere'?

Let us remember: 'Every Thought has a parallel action' (Mevlana)