The An-Jel

To be honest with you Dirge I haven't been in your situation physically but morally yes many more times than I can count. I don't know if it feels the same but the results becomes clear only after moments having delivered the resulting philosophic blow (so to speak mind you.) Everything still poses a question for me but my relevence to the organic and inorganic relation to things. If I can get my first book published I talk about this in vague detail as it relates to fiction.

Best way to approach religion these days from an objective perspective for me at least.

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"And let there be Light!" said the Blind man.

Life is simple, people make it complicated - Basilisk

Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti - Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Sa\/en

When a computer does an action, it does not “care” or “want” to stay alive. It is simply following code. It does not “care” if it dies or not.

Dirge

ya
I think that even in a state of artificial intellegence, there will never be artificial emotions, how can you program a computer to care?
sounds way way out there.

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It can't rain all the time

Og

Aye. But if you had many computers behaving over billions of years, the ones that "cared if they died" would take steps to avoid it, survive, and propagate. Thus creating more computers that cared if they died and handing down their genes and memes (social ideas).

As for programming a computer to care, it's a matter of giving it an objective sense of self and then defining that self to include others and then giving it a sense of self preservation.

See isaac asimov's laws of robotics:

1) Through action or inaction a human may not come to harm
2) Obey the orders of a human (except when interfering with 1)
3) Self preservation (except when interfering with 1 or 2)

This creates a robot that identifies self with humanity (i.e. self is defined in law 3 but is linked to the welfare of humanity).

Through Asimov's most famous sci-fi series (the foundation novels), his humaniform robot follows these rules and compassionately directs all of humanity towards a safer future.

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Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

lauraclay

Perhaps that is what we need. A force that can not break our morals to 'guide' us. Humans will always eventually corrupt. Is it better to give that up? Over the years, have we truly improved? I think we have, however slowly, and would hate to give up our independence.

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The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

jaej

Have you ever read I, Robot?

In one of the stories (the one parodied in the movie) the robots try to destroy humankind in the name of saving it from itself. LC's right on when she says we always corrupt, even ourselves.

About programming a computer to care:

You can't program emotions in a computer any more than you can in a person. You can't just point and say 'care' and have someone care about whatever you pointed to (crappy analogy I know). The point is, people have to interact with their environment to develop feelings, and computers are the same way. Like og said, if you could get them to evaluate the environment, to have a sense of self-preservation, then maybe you would be on your way to A.I.

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Μολὼν Λαβέ

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

Sa\/en

Even if the robot does do all these things properly, does it care? Isn't it still following code, just on a more complex level?

Og

I'd say: "as are we"

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Sa\/en

But to say it "cares" requires it to feel. If it does not care, the action is dead.

Og

What does it mean to feel then, if these robots don't.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are