
Zhorik showed up early in the morning and immediately puzzled me with global philosophical questions:
- Why does humanity exist? And how long will it exist?
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I offered the young man some coffee and got ready for a serious conversation.
“Well, what about humanity ... You won’t deny that it is a part of nature?”
- I will not, - nodded Zhorik.
- And if so, then the purpose of the existence of mankind should be considered in the context of the purpose of the existence of nature. You never know, you can foolishly foolishly imagine! .. If humanity is a separate non-independent element of nature, essentially a detail in the general mechanism, you first need to understand how this element differs from others. Then we can decide on the appointment.
Zhorik joyfully nodded his mouth full.
- What do we have in the draft? Nature, I mean the Universe, is divided into two parts: humanity and everything else. I agree?
- I agree.
- And how do you think one part of nature differs from another part of it?
- Well ... - Zhorik thought. - You yourself said: the fact that humanity has a mind, and the rest of nature is absent.
- Mind, in your opinion, some kind of special material nature or property of a single matter?
- Of course, the property.
- Good girl! - I praised the student. - Recognition of the mind by a new entity would lead us to idealism, and with this philosophical trend we are not on the way. We are scientists and inveterate materialists, for us rationality is a property of one substance. Just one part of nature does not possess this property, and the other, including us with you, has. Hence the gradation of nature into unreasonable and rational parts.
Zhorik nodded.
- It is obvious that the rationality of people is unequal. Someone has better brains, some worse. What does it depend on?
“From matter,” said the young man confidently. - Who knows what hereditary disease or predisposition. Or the parents were not the most intelligent, and the child turned out to be stupid.
- You want to say that the quality of the mind, which is a property of these brains, depends on the material structure of the brain?
- Exactly! The more neurons in the brain, the better the thinking.
- But why does nature need a high-quality human thinking? Why does she need human brains?
After a dozen seconds of reflection, Zhorik beamed:
- For development.
- You're right more than ever! The mind is a property that helps the physical nature to evolve and evolve. If not the mind, who would then be engaged in a long and tedious thing - the transformation of natural landscapes into industrial landscapes, which is obviously the main evolutionary trend of modernity?
- And what is it, nature, itself can not be transformed into industrial landscapes? - Zhorik was curious, munching on a sandwich with butter.
- Maybe, probably, but this is troublesome. I know you are programming. Tell me, what language is faster to write program code, in a low or high level language?
- High.
- Right. High-level languages ​​are invented to speed up the process of achieving the final result. Why nature not to do likewise? This suggests itself. What is the most difficult to track the complex relationships between elements, it is easier to write a program, transferring to it the execution of the most time-consuming tasks. Man is such a program, designed to improve the environment.
“So, humanity is forever,” whispered Zhorik with satisfaction.
His face shone, and his eyes burned with pride for belonging to the most advanced part of the universe.
“Not at all,” I said meekly. - The scientific fact presented by me proves that the days of mankind in historical perspective are numbered.
Zhorik choked.
- You ... You want to say that when humanity fulfills its task, it will be destroyed?
- By itself. You throw out the weapon that remains without using it, at best you take it away to the pantry. When humanity performs the task of the final transformation of nature, it will remain out of work and will be removed by nature out of sight, in any case, human activity will end. However, in your place I would not worry: by our standards, the evolution of nature is infinite. You need to worry about the fact that it is impossible to constantly improve one object from the same point.
- I do not understand.
“Ten minutes ago we came to the conclusion that the quality of the mind is determined solely by the construction of the brain. Which means: humanity is able to transform nature no further than to the limit of its thinking abilities. Upon reaching such a limit, the transformation stops, for more people don’t have enough. The construction is not the same, you know ...
Zhorik broke out, as if I specifically meant his little mind.
- Humanity is able to transform itself!
- How? Here is just so take and wiser? Why would such happiness, if, according to our materialistic convictions, the construction of the brain is literally the mind? What we have, we have.
- There are programs for improving human, genetic and other ways! There are many such programs!
- Well, there are. And what do they suggest? The fact that one human individual improves the other, is not it?
“True,” Zhorik cautiously confirmed, not understanding where I'm going.
- I warned in advance: you can not always improve one object from one point. In this case, one person is trying to improve the other. However, a person is designed in a language of a lower level than the high level that is available to him to operate. It is impossible to know - it is impossible to improve.
Zhorik was silent. I was also silent, giving the young man the opportunity to come to his own conclusions, which followed in a few minutes.
- Wait, but ... You contradict yourself! If the goal of nature is eternal self-development, and man is a tool for its transformation ... It turns out, the mission is impossible. Man will begin to transform nature, but he will stop when he reaches the brain limit. On this self-development of nature, fucking, will stop.
“Or the existence of humanity, fucking, will cease,” I suggested. - And to improve the nature will appoint another container of the mind. The obsolete part will be removed from the mechanism, and a new one will be inserted instead.
- Who will be appointed? Do monkeys wiser? Aliens will arrive?
- This method is inefficient, it would mean that you have to start the process of evolution anew. Why, if there are proven ways to reconstruct? Seen how bridges are being repaired? Block one lane, then, repairing, block the second. It can be said that first the second one is repaired by the first lane and then the second lane by the second lane.
- What do you mean?
- To the fact that one object is reconstructed in parts, sequentially from different points. Humanity is not able to improve itself, but it is able to create objects of a more complex level. This is imaginable, if only the construction of the object was different. In a programming language, you cannot repeat the program in which a given programming language was written, but you can write a program that is more complex according to the logic than the programming language itself. I want to say that humanity is not able to improve itself as a transformer of nature, but it is able to create from scratch a new, more advanced converter. In this way, evolution takes place: a receptacle of mind is created, which then invents a new mind receptacle, which in turn invents ... So on, in a cycle. Powers to transform the world go from one artificial type to another, it serves as a guarantee of the infinite development of the Universe. Just because one “reasonable” species cannot provide endless development.
- And who is this subsequent "reasonable" view, to which humanity voluntarily delegates the power to transform nature? - whispered the young man.
- Do not guess?
- Computers! Artificial Intelligence! - gasped student.
- Who would doubt ... Humanity is not able to know itself, but it is capable of creating something that exceeds itself in intelligence. How many of us understand what the principles of electricity are, how does a mobile phone work, how does a cough tablet work? It would be naive to believe that upon completion of the work, the authority will not be transferred to a more capable and “reasonable” part of nature. One side of the bridge was repaired, it was time to switch traffic to it and start repairing the carriageway, which was heavily worn out. The former leader loses the right to act and turns into an object of action. Thinking ability to him now unnecessarily. Although when building the present figure he counted on something else, undoubtedly.
- What is the result? - quietly asked Zhorik.
- It turns out that everything “rational” in nature is of artificial origin. People engaged in the construction of systems that exceed the complexity of a person, in vain, hope to control them. Systems do not necessarily come out of obedience, just the effect of them will be far from expected. As a result, humanity will lose its mind, no neurons from the skull will help. Transform nature will begin new figures, the same artificial intelligence, for example.
- What will happen to artificial intelligence after it fulfills its purpose?
- The same as with humanity. Over time, create something that surpasses itself in complexity. This is something to devour his parent, taking from him the baton of the converter.
- And if you do not create?
- So, does not justify the hopes placed on him. Then the civilization of artificial intelligence will be swept off the face of the Earth in order to be replaced by another, more loyal to the laws of nature. In the worst case ... I think nature will have a backup option.
- Who in this case gave birth to humanity?
- I do not know. Someone who has descended from the historical scene. Suppose the race of peace-loving and simple silicon giants, who created people from auxiliary carbon material and for ancillary works, but in the end lost control of them. So lost, that people multiplied and, having destroyed their silicon creators, set about a new round of material transformations. Not knowing that their biological age on the clock of eternity is measured.
Zhorik looked at me with old eyes.
- And how much is left for us? He finally squeezed out.
- How should I know? - I phlegmatic shrugged. - Why are you so excited, really? Isn't the update inside the view like this? The man is all right, he multiplies and multiplies, acquires children, who eventually gradually oust him from life. "And our grandchildren in a good hour will oust the world from us ...". And if it does not multiply, it remains alone, and it is still being squeezed out of life, already alien alien individuals. The question is whether your mission is fulfilled or not. If you honestly otpahal in the field of life, there is hope that at the end of the work you will be sent to the barn for a well-deserved rest, but if you refuse to perform the nature appointed, you will be thrown into the landfill before the measured historical period. Big difference, you know.
Zhorik silently got up, firmly shook my hand and went out.
Let him walk, it is useful. It’s good that in a hurry he forgot to ask who created the first “reasonable” species, and who created nature itself, programming the “intelligent” biological species to perform higher tasks. If asked, the conversation was delayed.
I changed my mind about the goals of mankind, and about materialism-Darwinism. I can give out a similar concept to a dozen for breakfast, what to say ...