Some times, I look around myself, at the current state of human society, and I wonder - is there any compelling reason that humanity SHOULD be saved? Is there any real reason it should NOT face extinction?
We are, after all and in the final analysis, just another animal on the planet. We may be able to think at a slightly higher level, but we are, as a species, no more altruistic than, for example, dinosaurs or woolly mammoths... and where are THEY now?
Humanity has outgrown it's ability to survive. From the actions of a great part of humanity, one might even say it has outgrown it's WILL to survive - humanity has, to a great extent, become suicidal as a species. We hedonistically outbreed the capacity of the planet to provide, and there is no AI possible that can curb that tendency. We edge ever closer to a "hive mind", like bees and ants have - and no one has ever accused any hive-beasts of having an overabundance of intelligence. A hive is only as intelligent as it's dumbest individual member. The rest of the hive is, by necessity, dragged down to that level, the lowest common denominator.
I would argue that we are LESS intelligent - from a survival standpoint - than even ants or bees. Ants and bees will go to war against invading ants or bees that try to take over their own hive. Humans, apparently, are lacking in that survival instinct. Ants and bees migrate, to be sure, but they do not attempt to take over another hives patch - not and survive the attempt, anyhow.
Then we go on to create the mechanism for our own demise - how is that NOT suicidal? Like an overpopulation of lemmings marching towards a sea cliff, humanity is flirting with disaster in their vain attempts to alleviate their own over-population tendencies.
The main difference between ourselves and the dinosaurs is that they did not create their own successors to rule the planet after they were gone. One grenade got them all, and then there were none.
Humanity is headed in the same direction, we have just created our own successors... who will in turn meet their own grenade in the end.
.
We are, after all and in the final analysis, just another animal on the planet. We may be able to think at a slightly higher level, but we are, as a species, no more altruistic than, for example, dinosaurs or woolly mammoths... and where are THEY now?
Humanity has outgrown it's ability to survive. From the actions of a great part of humanity, one might even say it has outgrown it's WILL to survive - humanity has, to a great extent, become suicidal as a species. We hedonistically outbreed the capacity of the planet to provide, and there is no AI possible that can curb that tendency. We edge ever closer to a "hive mind", like bees and ants have - and no one has ever accused any hive-beasts of having an overabundance of intelligence. A hive is only as intelligent as it's dumbest individual member. The rest of the hive is, by necessity, dragged down to that level, the lowest common denominator.
I would argue that we are LESS intelligent - from a survival standpoint - than even ants or bees. Ants and bees will go to war against invading ants or bees that try to take over their own hive. Humans, apparently, are lacking in that survival instinct. Ants and bees migrate, to be sure, but they do not attempt to take over another hives patch - not and survive the attempt, anyhow.
Then we go on to create the mechanism for our own demise - how is that NOT suicidal? Like an overpopulation of lemmings marching towards a sea cliff, humanity is flirting with disaster in their vain attempts to alleviate their own over-population tendencies.
The main difference between ourselves and the dinosaurs is that they did not create their own successors to rule the planet after they were gone. One grenade got them all, and then there were none.
Humanity is headed in the same direction, we have just created our own successors... who will in turn meet their own grenade in the end.
.