Ramblings of a Megalomaniac

I’m pretty confident that the end of humanity will not come from an asteroid smashing into the earth, nor a black hole swallowing us up, nor the end of some ancient calendar.  No, the end of humanity will happen at our own hands.  Something of our own design, whether intentional or not, will cause the end of the human race as we know it.  

Global warming is a possibility, but I don’t see that ending the entire human race, just a lot of humans.  It could, but there will probably always be livable land, it just may not be where it is right now.  

Creating a super destructive virus/disease/predator/whatever in a lab is possible, but that would have to be a huge accident along the lines of “if my calculations are correct, this should create a new form of bacteria that ends global warming…Oh no!  I created a super mutant that’s currently ripping my face off and simultaneously spawning 10 new ones!”   Though a zombie virus, however unlikely, would be a good one here.  

My bet is on machines that enslave or destroy humanity.  Back of the napkin estimates put the year when a computer has as much power as the human brain around 2050.  Luckily, 3+ decades gives us plenty of time to advance our Artificial Intelligence by then to the point where a computer that large can become a thinking organism.  At that point, we’ll have computers that are like regular people.  Every 2 years, they’ll double in intelligence, and soon, they’ll be super smart.

People often believe that something like Isaac Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics will stop robots from being malicious toward humans.  That’s bullshit for a few reasons.  First, when the home tinkerers start building their own DIY robots, someone is bound to screw it up.  I’m sure many will.  

But the bigger thing is that if we make a robot that has a “brain” just like ours, it’s bound to produce a few robot psychopaths.  Our brains are supposed to be hardwired to be similar, but variations through birth, genetics, trauma, etc. cause them to be wildly different.  And they’re always changing and learning.  So would a robot’s brain.  Some are bound to be created with ineffective hardware governing the 3 laws.  Some may even know that, but know to act like normal robots to stay “alive.”  But eventually they’ll kill.  And one very charismatic leader robot will convince enough of them to destroy all humans.  Think of him like the robot version of Hitler or something.  

There are plenty of other ways humanity will beget its own demise, but my money is on the robot uprising.  

Cyborgs are a pretty popular thing in science fiction.  For those who’ve been living in a cave for the past 80 years, a cyborg is part man and part machine.  The Terminator was a cyborg.  

I, too, am a cyborg.  Well, I’m one step away from being a true cyborg.  So are you.  My smart phone is with me at all times.  I use it to take pictures, look up information, schedule things in my calendar, and use it as a flashlight in the dark.  I have the functions of the smart phone and power of the internet with me at all times.  Technically, I’m 100% organism, and thus not a cyborg by the most literal definition.  But the difference between my smart phone being implanted in me and simply carrying it with me at all times is academic.  It’s part of me.  Has been for a long time.  My old smart phone was too, until I got an upgrade.  

It really seems like a small gap between where I am now and having it permanently implanted in my body.  As long as the implant would be upgradable, I’m in.  

And for those of you looking for something more like a terminator, just find someone who carries a pistol and his smart phone around wherever he goes.  It’s the alpha version of the terminator