The Collective

The Danger

“Extra, Extra. Read all about it. Terminator robots are on the rampage, killing all humans.”

Is this a real danger? How about being assimilated by the Borg on Star Trek?

Some people fear we will lose control of all technology when it becomes smarter than us. Should we worry about this? Are we all doomed?

I think the future is safe for these reasons…

There is a fundamental difference between machines and humans: Procreation

A great deal of human behavior is driven by the need to procreate. We need to pass on our genes to the next generation.

Evolution has given us behaviors that ensure we procreate. One of these behaviors is our instinct to survive long enough to procreate.

Another instinct is our need to control the environment, thereby increasing our individual reproductive success.

Machines don’t have this need to procreate, since factories make machines. They also don’t fear death, since they have nothing to lose.

Why should they possibly want to take over the world? What’s the point?

Likewise, the concept of evolution is meaningless to machines…Remember, the evolution of machines is driven by human need. It is for humans alone that machines evolve.

Ants

I like to compare machines to ants.

Worker ants don’t reproduce. Their only purpose in life is to serve the colony.

It doesn’t matter to the ant if it dies. An ant’s value comes from how well it serves the colony.

In the same way, machines exist only to serve society.

However, the ants in the colony will do whatever it takes to protect the colony. They will attack and kill all intruders. They also hunt to feed the colony.

It is possible that the Internet will become conscious and self aware in the future. Is this a danger? I don’t think so.

The reason is because the Internet is composed of billions of machines and connections. A key component of the Internet is humans. The Internet is an extension of and an integral part of human society. Therefore, the Internet will not harm humans, because by doing so it will only harm itself.

The Internet will however act to protect itself from all perceived treats. This is good news because now we are dealing with treats to the environment.

Also, the Internet will protect us from Terminator style robots because we are it and it is us.

The real “danger” is that we will no longer be permitted to harm the harm the environment or others.

The Collective

Another real danger is assimilation into the Borg Collective.

People, such as me, are already melding with technology.

There is a fundamental difference between this Collective and that that found on Star Trek. On Star Trek, those who are assimilated lose all humanity and turn into machines. That is, they are expendable.

In the real world, the Collective will have an infinite capacity for diversity. There is space for any version of you that you want to turn yourself into and only you have the choice of what you will become.

In any case, some will still consider this a loss of our humanity. After all, can a person with altered DNA or cyborg implants be considered to be human? Is that guy with the cochlear implant or artificial heart still human? How about that lady who had gene therapy?

Human Reserves

However, assimilation is optional.

Just as we have nature reserves, places will be set aside for those who want to keep their traditions and refuse to take part in the great changes taking place.

Take the Zoë tribe of the Amazon as an example. In order to protect their culture, the Brazilian government made the Zoë’s territory into a natural preserve and forbade anyone from entering it.

You have a choice:

1. Embrace the Internet and evolve into Human 2.0
2. Spend the rest of your life in a human reserve

There is no other choice because Human 1.0 will never be able to keep up with the rapidly evolving technology of the future. Only Human 2.0 will be able to steer, guide and understand the evolving technology of the future.

People in the human reserve will never know there is anything beyond them. They will, like the Zoë, be trapped forever in a moment in history. They will be happy and without any needs, but they will always be dependent on forces beyond their understanding and control.

I could never live like this. Becoming Human 2.0 means letting go of the past, and embracing infinite possibilities.

Either way, the world as we know it will soon cease to exist, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. I just hope this doesn’t cause World War 3.

Evolution is Contagious

Viruses have the ability to swap genes with host organisms. Is it possible that viruses are the driving force behind evolution?

Natural selection cannot create new species. It can only change the distribution of traits within a breeding population. This is microevolution.

At best, microevolution can only reduce the number of traits expressed within a species. By species I mean, a group of organisms that can reproduce when the male of the species joins with the female of the species to produce fertile offspring. This is a breeding population.

Some life forms can reproduce asexually by various means, such as sporing and cell division. Normally we think of species and breeding population as being the same thing. However, when it comes to asexual reproduction, this doesn’t apply. Each member of these “species” is a member of their own breeding population. We refer to them as members of the same species in order to properly classify them.

Scientists have proposed mutation as a means of creating new species. Unfortunately this will not work. Here’s why.

Let’s say a mutation creates a creature that belongs to its very own breeding population. Who will it breed with to perpetuate the new species? It cannot breed with its own species because it’s the only one. It cannot breed with its parent’s species because of the newly formed species barrier.

Some species can overcome this problem by self-fertilization. When enough members of the new species are born, regular sexual reproduction can continue. Some animal species produce hundreds of eggs at a time. This can bypass the above problem since the hatched creatures can reproduce among themselves.

What the mutation process can do is increase the genetic diversity of a species.

Unfortunately, the mutation rate of a single species is almost zero. If you rely on this mechanism alone, the genetic diversity around us would never come into existence.

Fortunately, there is a way out. It also explains why we share more genes with other species than would be expected otherwise.

On The Farm

Imagine a pig and chicken farm. A common virus infects the chickens.

Like all viruses, the little bugs swap genes with their hosts. In this case, the viruses obtain the genes that code for feathers.

The viruses then proceed to infect the sperm and egg cells of the pigs.

The pigs show no outward signs of infection and the farmer does nothing.

While in the new host, the virus starts swapping genes between itself and the host organism. The genes swapped are the genes that code for feathers.

Unfortunately, this has rendered the eggs and sperm incompatible with the eggs and sperm of non-infected pigs.

The farmer then breeds the pigs with each other without any problems, since all the sperm and eggs of the pigs have the same genetic alteration and are therefore compatible. The hundreds of piglets produced now have the unique genes. They can breed with each other but not with regular pigs.

This makes them members of their own species.

Genetic Diversity

It probably takes billions of generations for new non-harmful genes to come into existence for a single species. Let’s call this the mutation rate of a species.

But what if you multiply the mutation rate of that species with the mutation rate of all the plants in the world plus all the animals in the world plus all the viruses and bacteria in the world?

The generation of new genes throughout the world should be relatively common. Through the agency of viruses, the new gene slowly spreads throughout the ecosystem, like ink spreading across a pond. The species that can take advantage of these genes will do so with the result that a new trait has come into existence within that species.

This way a species can benefit from genetic mutation without the normal risks associated with it. Some genes have a radical effect on the appearance of plants and animals. This is what causes the Doberman to look so different from a poodle.

A newly acquired gene could cause a new species to take on characteristics that are radically different from its parent species.

Might evolution to work this way?

When pigs fly, I guess.