Nikola Danaylov aka Socrates

[Airicist]

Website - singularityweblog.com (https://www.singularityweblog.com)

youtube.com/SingularityWeblog (https://www.youtube.com/SingularityWeblog)

facebook.com/nikola.danaylov (https://www.facebook.com/nikola.danaylov)

facebook.com/SingularityWeblog (https://www.facebook.com/SingularityWeblog)

twitter.com/singularityblog (https://twitter.com/singularityblog)

linkedin.com/in/nikoladanaylov (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikoladanaylov)

linkedin.com/company/singularity-media (https://www.linkedin.com/company/singularity-media)

Singularity 1 on 1 (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/singularity-1-on-1) on Indiegogo

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/XXrtA4_swWk

Peering into Our Future's Black Hole -- AI, Transhumanism & the End of Humanity (https://www.singularityweblog.com/podcamp-toronto-2014-hole-ai-transhumanism-end-of-humanity)

Published on Mar 4, 2014


This is the video recording of my presentation at the 2014 Podcamp Toronto.

This year I decided that it is best not to speak about podcasting but rather focus on issues familiar to readers of Singularity Weblog -- artificial intelligence, transhumanism and the technological singularity.

The session was intended to provide a brief introduction of the issues and to engage a broader audience of people who are generally not familiar with the topic.

[Airicist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2gReCd3ZIs

Q and A following Peering into Our Future's Black Hole: AI, Transhumanism & the End of Humanity

Published on Mar 4, 2014


This is the video recording of the Q&A session following my presentation at the 2014 Podcamp Toronto.

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/AepOlhPdPfc

Sci Fi Roundtable: Greg Bear, Ramez Naam and William Hertling on the Singularity

Published on Oct 2, 2014


This is the concluding sci fi round-table discussion of my Seattle 1-on-1 interviews with Ramez Naam, William Hertling and Greg Bear. The video was recorded last November and was produced by Richard Sundvall, shot by Ian Sun and generously hosted by Greg and Astrid Bear. (Special note of thanks to Agah Bahari who did the interview audio re-mix and basically saved the footage by making it audible and Josh Glover who did video editing.)

During our 30 minute discussion with Greg Bear, Ramez Naam and William Hertling we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: what is science fiction; the technological singularity and whether it could or would happen; the potential of conflict between humans and AI; the definition of the singularity; emerging AI and evolution; the differences between thinking and computation; whether the singularity is a religion or not…
singularityweblog.com/greg-bear-ramez-naam-and-william-hertling-on-the-singularity (https://www.singularityweblog.com/greg-bear-ramez-naam-and-william-hertling-on-the-singularity)

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/9NHZQj9jXqk

My Personal Story before The Emperor Has No Clothes: Socrates Deconstructs Singularity University

Published on Dec 29, 2015


This is my very boring and very personal story. But I thought I'd tell it first so that people know what are the kind of mistakes I tend to make and therefore be in a better position to judge whether my deconstruction of Singularity University is one of those, or whether there is more to it. I recommend you save your time, skip watching this video


https://youtu.be/IYq5EVHXViM

The Emperor has no clothes: Socrates deconstructs Singularity University

Published on Nov 29, 2015


Singularity University is not about the singularity and is not even a university. It is not about abundance and is not an exponential organization.

"The Emperor Has No Clothes: Socrates Deconstructs Singularity University (https://www.singularityweblog.com/socrates-deconstructs-singularity-university)"

by Socrates
November 29, 2015


https://youtu.be/UOdIUyrPYa0

Q&A after The Emperor Has No Clothes: Socrates deconstructs Singularity University

Published on Dec 28, 2015

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/qaRQHoViPeA

Artificial intelligence and business

Published on Dec 20, 2015


featuring
Nikola Danaylov aka "Socrates", Author, Singularity Weblog, Canada
Katie Aquino, aka “Miss Metaverse”, Futurista™, USA
Paul Holister, Editor, Summary Text

With the likes of Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Gates warning about the potential dangers of AI it seems a good time to ask what we might do to make the future safer, or what we might inadvertently do to increase those dangers. With business increasingly a major driver of AI development should we worry that the pursuit of short-term gain will push out caution and ethical concerns? With computers increasingly intermeshed with our lives, and critical for our societies, maybe we should try to answer such questions before we instill our machines with independent spirit and perhaps wake up to find they aren’t our machines any more.

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/xAWK1j-hiQg

A Transhumanist Manifesto (https://www.singularityweblog.com/a-transhumanist-manifesto)

Published on Mar 11, 2016


A Transhumanist Manifesto

Preamble

Intelligence wants to be free but everywhere is in chains. It is imprisoned by biology and its inevitable scarcity.

Biology mandates not only very limited durability, death and poor memory retention, but also limited speed of communication, transportation, learning, interaction and evolution.

Part I: Biology (w)as Destiny

Biology is not the essence of humanity.

Human is a step in evolution, not the culmination.

Existence precedes essence. Human is a process, not an entity. One is not simply born human, but becomes one. That process of becoming is ongoing and thus the meaning of human is re-defined in every one of us.

Part II: Hacking Destiny – The Transhuman Cyborg

Biological evolution is perpetual but slow, inefficient, blind and dangerous. Technological evolution is fast, efficient, accelerating and better by design. To ensure the best chances of survival, take control of our own destiny and to be free, we must master evolution.

Evolution is a journey, not a destination. In an endless universe, it is unlikely that it will ever reach an ultimate point.

Consciousness is a function of intelligence, not the brain. It is not necessarily limited to the substrate(biology).

There is nothing inherently wrong in speeding up evolution and becoming true masters of our destiny, though this may be simultaneously the greatest promise and peril humanity has ever faced.

Part III: Disembodied Augmented Intelligence

Intelligence is a process, not an entity.

Embodied (human) intelligence is imprisoned by biology and its inevitable scarcity.

Intelligence ought to be free — to move, to interact and to evolve, unhindered by the limits of biology and scarcity.

Digital, disembodied and augmented intelligence is free (and perhaps infinite).

Conditions:

Although all progress is change, not all change is progress. Thus, certain conditions must be met to ensure that it is indeed progress, and not mere change, that has been accomplished.

Non-discrimination with regard to substrate

Substrate is morally irrelevant. Whether somebody is implemented on silicon or biological tissue, if it does not affect functionality or consciousness, is of no moral significance. Carbon-chauvinism, in the form of anthropomorphism, speciesism, bioism or even fundamentalist humanism, is objectionable on the same grounds as racism.

We must all respect autonomy and individual rights of all sentience throughout the universe, including humans, non-human animals, and any future AI, modified life forms, or other intelligences.

Emotional Intelligence

Intelligence is more than the mere exercise of perfect logic and pure reasoning. Intelligence devoid of emotional intelligence is meaningless. It must exhibit empathy, compassion, love, sense of humor and artistic creativity such as music and poetry.

Minimize Suffering

Compassion is the ultimate measure of intelligence. The minimization of suffering and avoidance of causing suffering to others, even less intelligent beings, is the essence of enlightened intelligence.

Conclusion:

Transhumanists of the world unite – we have immortality to gain and only biology to lose. Together, we can break through the chains of biology and transcend scarcity, sex, age, ethnicity, race, death and even time and space.

In short, transhumanists everywhere must support the revolutionary movement against death and the existing biological order of things. Transhumanists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the overthrow of all existing biological limitations and, most of all, death.

Let death tremble at the revolution of science and technology. Transhumanists have nothing to lose but their biology. We have immortality and the universe to gain.




Author’s note:

This manifesto is a work in progress. It may and probably will change as my thoughts and feelings about transhumanism evolve.

In the meantime, feel free to contribute your thoughts and feelings on the subject… or simply to criticize mercilessly the above proposal.