Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2495-2499 (22-26 July, 2013) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread
ZoeB:
One advantage of interacting with the world via hologramic projection: you can't be duct-taped to a wall.
Does pintsize multitask?
Re Sentience:
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/alobster.htm
--- Quote ---The team of researchers at UCSD’s Institute for Nonlinear Science (INLS) led by Henry Abarbanel, professor of physics, Misha Rabinovich at INLS and Allen Selverston, professor emeritus of biology, has successfully integrated an electronic neuron within a group of 14 biological neurons from the California spiny lobster. The artificial neuron was accepted by the real ones and its signaling rhythm fell into place with the other cells.
--- End quote ---
Any lifeform where you can replace large parts of its anatomy with $7.50 worth of Radio Shack parts doesn't meet my definition of "people".
--- Quote ---The problem of Animal Rights becomes acute and immediate when we consider the experimentation currently underway with Hybots. It can be persuasively argued that experimentation with primitive organisms like lampreys (Gugliotta 2001) and spiny lobsters(Aguilera 1999) do not involve "thinking creatures" as such. The fact that some of the neural processing can be replaced by an absurdly simple inorganic equivalent is strong evidence of this. A lamprey or a spiny lobster, despite being organic, may in fact be no more than a self-directing robot. The situation described by Graham-Rowe 2001 is less clear : only a few thousand neurons are used, and from Rat foetuses rather than the fully-developed animal, yet it is this very plasticity and higher level of development that leads one to suspect that the result may "think" in an animal fashion rather than merely be a robot with organic parts. Should such a Hybot be able to navigate a maze, then very troubling ethical issues arise regarding cruelty. We can plausibly avoid the issue when dealing with a non-organic artificial intelligence with the same external behaviour, but we know Rats think. And the situation regarding fully inorganic artificial intelligence is not as clear-cut as it once was, given the experimentation with Cyborgs and prosthetic brain parts. There is potential for suffering on a scale undreamt-of, and for very much longer than a normal lifespan. Call it Hell on Earth. Conversely, there is the possibility that we might fully understand the nature of thought, and resolve the issues of how we should treat animals. We may even be able to augment ourselves to become, if not Gods, perhaps a little more wise as well as intelligent. Call it Heaven on Earth.
--- End quote ---
Border Reiver:
--- Quote from: GarandMarine on 22 Jul 2013, 23:14 ---Yup, I am convinced. She's either some twisted game show or a psychology experiment.
--- End quote ---
And at the end of the experiment someone's yelling, "Psych!"
Masterpiece:
I am reminded of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. That game did address transhumanism, if only on a very shallow basis.
techkid:
Have to give Dale some credit. He is trying to be gentlemanly, even with her very un-ladylike behaviour. He might still be a jerk, but at least he is a decent jerk.
Mr_Rose:
--- Quote from: Akima on 23 Jul 2013, 03:56 ---
--- Quote from: Masterpiece on 23 Jul 2013, 03:28 ---Holograms are more useful for that purpose. Having something change constantly in your peripheral vision is a huge distraction and should be made illegal.
--- End quote ---
Who says that Dale's glasses present stuff in his peripheral vision? Jeph hasn't offered any details, and it's perfectly possible that the information *is* presented focussed at infinity like an HUD.
--- Quote ---About bugs being sentient: If I remember correctly, bugs only react to stimuli and react to those through reflex. That in itself cannot be considered sentient (as in, the bug doesn't stop to think WHY it's doing things).
--- End quote ---
That is a matter of definition. Sentience is not the same thing as intelligence. My dictionary defines sentience as the ability to feel or perceive, and that bugs certainly can do.
Spiders and insects are both arthropods. If you want to distinguish, spiders are arachnids.
--- End quote ---
Perhaps I missed the word "other" in front of arthropods then.
As for sentience, my dictionary includes a clause about differentiating itself from its environment.
Which is important as otherwise Lego have been selling sentient machines for decades…
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version