What would VERY advanced beings be like?

[Cailean]

I've been thinking about this on and off for a while, and maybe:

1. They would be post physical - machine entities, or pure energy/intelligence, having decided to transcend a body - based existence for the sake of conscious immortality.

2. They would have ceased to be planet - based and would live in space or between spaces.

3. They would take little interest in the likes of us.

What are your thoughts?

 

[0uterj0in]

Thanks for starting this thread.

They would be post physical

If they exist, they must need to take some physical form. If "machine-based" for example, then there needs to be machines. It is commonly assumed that the final destination of advanced intelligence is an existence of pure thought, disembodied. But can experience be rich and worthy of reflection without any sensory data at all? Or in the words of William S Burroughs: "In order to feel something, You've got to be there."

They would have ceased to be planet - based

Sure. But it seems they would still need an energy source. Even pure thought requires energy and generates heat.

They would take little interest in the likes of us.

Sure, but what if we are an artificial simulation run by them?

 

[Xylo]

Thanks for starting this thread.

If they exist, they must need to take some physical form. If "machine-based" for example, then there needs to be machines. It is commonly assumed that the final destination of advanced intelligence is an existence of pure thought, disembodied. But can experience be rich and worthy of reflection without any sensory data at all? Or in the words of William S Burroughs: "In order to feel something, You've got to be there."

I believe you're still hanging on to the human perception of "rich and worthy of reflection." One thing about humans is that even though we can process and sense a great deal of information from many inputs simoultaneously, our bodies tend to focus on "change in input" rather than constantly monitoring a steady stream of data. It's a hold-over from our primitive hunter/gatherer selves, in my opinion. Even the strongest of senses-our olfactory sense, processes change-triggers the memory, then activates whatever response if any, and then the sense usually fades.

What if a highly advanced being is able to and actually processes millions of sensory inputs simultaneously? Each input may not be "rich and worthy of reflection" but together all inputs may add up into an "experience."

Consider your favorite childhood memory: do you remember what socks you had on, what color was the sky, what was the humidity level, the temperature, were there insects in the area, at what location did this take place, who was there....? All are important data points for the sum of the experience, yet probably not conscious thoughts. Maybe advanced beings would actually process this in the data stream.

2. They would have ceased to be planet - based and would live in space or between spaces.

Perhaps traveling between spaces?

But I think your second point contradicts your first point. In order to be based anywhere or nowhere there would have to be a physical "self" involved.

To put it another way, if something is post physical it would have to be omni-present. If it isn't omnipresent it would have to have some sort of container or vessel or a corporeal body.

3. They would take little interest in the likes of us.

Why wouldn't they? Perhaps it's more for historical reference or experimental purposes? More than once I've thought that this universe was just a collosal science experiment. (Hopefully it got a good grade!)

 

[Slim Shady]

I would say they wouldn't be anything us , all we are is monkeys that learned theres more life that swinging from a tree .

 

[JD Thompson]

-by definition, a 'very' advanced biological entity would have created artificial intelligence, and harnessed sufficient energy sources, to manifest awesome technological prowess. And, as it has been said, technology sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.

 

[pixelsmith]

-by definition, a 'very' advanced biological entity would have created artificial intelligence, and harnessed sufficient energy sources, to manifest awesome technological prowess. And, as it has been said, technology sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.

i don't know.. there are some very advanced life forms on this planet other than humans that do NOT need energy sources other than natural ones. they dont pay bills or worry about health care either...that said, I like cuttlefish.

 

[tyder001]

When I lived in Hawaii the best Cuttlefish was at a Korean Bar b q in Milliani. Actually, (not to sound new agey) the Dolphins may be more advanced than we are in some ways. I know I'm one of those supestious bad spelling folks that believe there is something to the paranormal. But, I also have an open mind when it comes to species and evolution and questions of what self awarness is. Also, I have a very rare winter snow day in Bama so I don't have to work today. I'm just "surfin" the interwebs.

 

[pixelsmith]

i didnt mean i like cuttlefish to eat. i like how they hunt and change colors and stuff. cephalopods have been around in various forms for millions of years. i have looked into the eyes of dolphins and humpback whales at very close range, they are also very cool advanced life forms.

 

[tyder001]

Sorry, we ate em Hawaii. But, I didn't mean any offense. Now I would never knowlingly eat a dolphin or a whale. All I knew about cuttlefish was I went into the Korean Bar B Q and tried em and liked em. Not everybody does.

 

[pixelsmith]

i am not offended. life forms eat other life forms. thats what we do. Eat or be eaten is the basics for living on this planet.
a big cuttlefish would most likely eat a human if they could.

 

[exo_doc]

Oh that's easy.

 

[Ezechiel]

I've been thinking about this on and off for a while, and maybe:

1. They would be post physical - machine entities, or pure energy/intelligence, having decided to transcend a body - based existence for the sake of conscious immortality.

2. They would have ceased to be planet - based and would live in space or between spaces.

3. They would take little interest in the likes of us.

What are your thoughts?

Enormous optimized semi-organic self-sustaining and evolving artificial brains way beyond any natural construct... Matrix creators hit it on the nose.
They would have taken over their creators place in the infinite quest to explain creation lol

 

[icculus]

I took a picture of one, would you like to see it?

---------- Post added at 09:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 AM ----------

These beings came here in the late 70s. Here is a photo of their leader in the early days after their arrival.

 

[Ezechiel]

Enormous optimized semi-organic self-sustaining and evolving artificial brains way beyond any natural construct... Matrix creators hit it on the nose.
They would have taken over their creators place in the infinite quest to explain creation lol

LOL, this got me thinking. Telepathy or telekinesis could simply be the integration of technological evolution into biological construct. Embeded at birth, biological interfaces enabling thought and information transfer radically accelerate brain evolution, quickly identifies brain defect (mental illness) and enables uniformization of societal values and objectives.... thus the plain grey configuration.

The entire society is one huge neural network lol .... an organic machine

This actually could be where humans are heading



You don't need a big mouth anymore.... just a big brain with a bio/mechanical interface LOL

 

[exo_doc]

LOL, this got me thinking. Telepathy or telekinesis could simply be the integration of technological evolution into biological construct. Embeded at birth, biological interfaces enabling thought and information transfer radically accelerate brain evolution, quickly identifies brain defect (mental illness) and enables uniformization of societal values and objectives.... thus the plain grey configuration.

The entire society is one huge neural network lol .... an organic machine

This actually could be where humans are heading

View attachment 2022

You don't need a big mouth anymore.... just a big brain with a bio/mechanical interface LOL

Hmmmm....sounds like the Borg to me.

 

[Ezechiel]

Hmmmm....sounds like the Borg to me.

Yes, or maybe a variation around that concept. After millions of years of evolution and operation with man/machine interfaces, these actual interfaces would actually become genetically compatible with their host up to the point where new born babies would be expecting the implants in some kind of artificial symbiosis (adaptation through evolution).

Along that same line of thought... you would think these same implant-dependant beings would be very vulnerable to EMP (electromagnetic pulse). The kind that is produced during a nuclear explosion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_nuclear_explosion
Hmmmm ?!.... Roswell.... Nukes.... Crashes...... LOL

 

[pixelsmith]

Yes, or maybe a variation around that concept. After millions of years of evolution and operation with man/machine interfaces, these actual interfaces would actually become genetically compatible with their host up to the point where new born babies would be expecting the implants in some kind of artificial symbiosis (adaptation through evolution).

Along that same line of thought... you would think these same implant-dependant beings would be very vulnerable to EMP (electromagnetic pulse). The kind that is produced during a nuclear explosion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_nuclear_explosion
Hmmmm ?!.... Roswell.... Nukes.... Crashes...... LOL

that would seem to be the likely scenario. I think it also likely we could be as advanced as the beings discussed here if our own advanced technologies in all disciplines were made public to every person on this planet.... instead we are force fed stupid sports and tv shows...

 

[Angel of Ioren]

that would seem to be the likely scenario. I think it also likely we could be as advanced as the beings discussed here if our own advanced technologies in all disciplines were made public to every person on this planet.... instead we are force fed stupid sports and tv shows...

What are you talking about? You guys got the Verizon iPhone today. Now even Americans have a choice of carriers. Every time i look at my phone I think that my head would have exploded if I had seen it even just 10 years ago.

 

[pixelsmith]

What are you talking about? You guys got the Verizon iPhone today. Now even Americans have a choice of carriers. Every time i look at my phone I think that my head would have exploded if I had seen it even just 10 years ago.

it is somewhat limited tho. I have been waiting for verizon to get the iphone since it came out. maybe this fall i will get one.
Verizon iPhone first hands-on! (update: video) -- Engadget

 

[Angel of Ioren]

it is somewhat limited tho. I have been waiting for verizon to get the iphone since it came out. maybe this fall i will get one.
Verizon iPhone first hands-on! (update: video) -- Engadget

That's a good idea actually because you'll have the newer model, although I'm not sure if the next iPhone will be a major upgrade from this one. They may be able to work the the faster network though.
I'm quite happy with mine - major step up from the Windows mobile 6 phone. I love that it works seamlessly with my Mac.

I wonder what an advanced civilization would think of a planet that gets this excited over a communication device?