Alex M. Vikoulov's Blog, page 12
March 22, 2019
A New Must-Read Book on the AI Singularity from Barnes & Noble - The Syntellect Hypothesis | Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Barnes & Noble Press releases a new non-fiction book The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution by Alex M. Vikoulov as Hardcover (Press Release, San Francisco, CA, USA, March 22, 2019 11.00 AM PST)
Named “The Book of the Year” by futurists and academics alike, “# 1 Hot New Release” in Amazon charts in Physics of Time, Phenomenology, and Phenomenological Philosophy, the book has now been released by Barnes & Noble Press as hardcover in addition to ebook and paperback released earlier this year. In one volume, the author covers it all: from quantum physics to your experiential reality, from the Big Bang to the Omega Point, from the 'flow state' to psychedelics, from 'Lucy' to the looming AI Singularity, from natural algorithms to the operating system of your mind, from geo-engineering to nanotechnology, from anti-aging to immortality technologies, from oligopoly capitalism to Star-Trekonomics, from the Matrix to Universal Mind, from Homo sapiens to Holo syntellectus.
As the author writes in the book: "Reality is information, and so are we... Reality is what we experience: From a physical point of view, there could be no ‘objective’ observer fully separated from the physical system she tries to observe. In actuality, there is no objectivity – only a subjective perspective on things, i.e. individuated consciousness. Ultimately, any experiential reality is an observer-centric virtuality... Since we all are alternate realities, each of us being a parallel 'unique-verse,' 'observer-centric virtuality' is possibly one of the best metaphors related to the ontology of our experiential reality."
In regards to the forthcoming Technological Singularity, Vikoulov writes: “A neuron in the human brain can never equate the human mind, but this analogy doesn't hold true for a digital mind, by virtue of its mathematical structure, it may – through evolutionary progression and provided there are no insurmountable evolvability constraints – transcend to the higher-order Syntellect. A mind is a web of patterns fully integrated as a coherent intelligent system; it is a self-generating, self-reflective, self-governing network of sentient components... that evolves, as a rule, by propagating through dimensionality and ascension to ever-higher hierarchical levels of emergent complexity. In this book, the Syntellect emergence is hypothesized to be the next meta-system transition, developmental stage for the human mind – becoming one global mind – that would constitute quintessence of the looming AI Singularity."
Alex M. Vikoulov is a futurist, digital philosopher, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, cosmist, independent scholar, evolutionary extrapolist, consciousness researcher, media artist, painter and writer who lives in Burlingame, CA (San Francisco Bay Area). Russian-born, immigrated to the U.S. in 1994, holds degrees in humanities, finance and economics. Co-author of “Is Reality A Simulation?” (2018). Founder, creative director of Ecstadelic Media Group.
This new book is an essential "transformative" read in digital physics, foundations of quantum physics, science of consciousness, philosophy of mind, physics of time, phenomenology, economic theory, cybernetics and AI research, collective evolution and self-development in the Information Age. Written by Alex M. Vikoulov; Foreword by Antonin Tuynman, PhD; Publisher: Barnes & Noble Press; Publication Date: March 18, 2019; Format: Hardcover; Product Dimensions: 7×10×0.88 inches; Book Length: 380 pages; ISBN: 9781987054484; Price: $39.99.
"The Syntellect Hypothesis by Alex M.Vikoulov is not only a worthy and contemporary successor of Teilhard de Chardin's ‘The Phenomenon of Man,’ it is also much more than that... an irresistible non-dualistic apex, synthesis and culmination of so many books you read before, but which all left open some questions… Vikoulov will rock the foundations of your understanding of physics and metaphysics and show you that they are connected in a single substrate of pure consciousness, that finds its most elegant and parsimonious way to come to expression in Digital Presentism. If you thought you knew where the technological singularity would lead us, if you thought you understood the principles of quantum physics, time and gravity... this is an indispensable scripture to read in the 21st century as we're verging into the Singularity." -Antonin Tuynman, PhD
"A masterpiece. The work of a genius, by the highly respected and regarded, Russian-American scientist and philosopher Alex Vikoulov. The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution, is one of the most important books of 2019. Vikoulov is far ahead of his time, a treatise worth reading. Highly recommended." -Ediho Lokanga, PhD | Academia.edu The Syntellect Hypothesis hardcover can be purchased from Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130559189?ean=9781987054484
Ebook (Nook book, reflowable, text-to-speech enabled, released by B&N on 02.19.2019):
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130546241?ean=2940161345597
Also, available on Amazon in paperback and ebook formats:
https://www.amazon.com/Syntellect-Hypothesis-Paradigms-Minds-Evolution/dp/0578451204
As a collectible item, order an autographed hardcover from EcstadelicNET webstore:
https://www.ecstadelic.net/store/p7/The_Syntellect_Hypothesis,_Autographed_Hardcover.html
Watch the book trailer on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/JNCO6JrrKcM
EcstadelicNET
#SyntellectHypothesis #FiveParadigms #MindsEvolution #NewBook #BarnesNoble #PressRelease #AISingularity #SyntellectEmergence
#TechnologicalSingularity #GlobalMind #GlobalBrain #DigitalPhysics #OmegaPointCosmology #QuantumMechanics #QuantumComputing #futurology #evolution #consciousness
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March 11, 2019
The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution | Book Synopsis
Book by Alex M. Vikoulov, Synopsis* "Regard the physical world as made of information, with energy and matter as incidentals." -John A. Wheeler
Everything, including energy, matter, space, time, and consciousness, is INFORMATION, or Code if you will. Many scientists now come to a consensus that information may be fundamental, since information patterns persist through dimensions and, it seems, is an evolving phenomenon.
This is the synopsis of my new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" where we will set to explore the conscious mind's journey through times and paradigms with the focus on what's most important to us as conscious beings -- OUR SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE. From Noogenesis to Apotheosis of the Universal Mind, this book will examine the five distinct evolutionary paradigms:
Biological (Genetic) Evolution. How did the first natural brains come to existence? What is the space of possible minds? What subjective experience could a bat or an octopus have? Why is Homo sapiens now on top of its game as a biological species?The purpose of life, it seems, is to evolve and to pass on the acquired knowledge and complexity through time. From the very first prokaryote cell on this planet, its splitting in two, and onward to the more complicated life forms, the purpose is always passing down the information.
Biological organisms, from unicellular bacteria to a human, are incredibly advanced, intricate information processors, computational systems, the product of billions of years of evolution, for all of which I deliberately use the term: 'Computational Biology'.
The SYNTELLECT HYPOTHESIS adds one more crucial element, overlooked by theories of consciousness, quite possibly one of the last pieces to solving the puzzle of our comprehensive understanding of the human brain and consciousness.
Techno-Cultural (Epigenetic) Development. What has been shaping the human mind throughout the history of mankind? Do biological systems hold monopoly on conscious awareness? What links consciousness to quantum mechanics? What is the fabric and ultimate nature of reality?
Over the course of human history, from the first bonfire to today's smartphones and hyperloops, we have designed tools, and tools designed us back by shaping our minds.
Memes are building blocks of culture, invisible but very real DNA of human society. These information carrier units spread from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, writing or other imitation, and inhabit the neurons of people's brains. Ideas are just as real as neurons they inhabit.
Within just a few short years, once we create human-level artificially intelligent computers and ditch our smartphones and headsets in favor of exocortices, we'll find ourselves in the midst of the next paradigm in earnest. The preceded biological evolution and human history pale in comparison to what lies ahead!
The Syntellect Emergence. Are we rapidly evolving into a new hybrid species interlinked into the Global Mind? Why and how will quantum computing change everything? How to create friendly AI and ensure our survival through the coming intelligence explosion? What if our Universe is a simulation? What subjective experience will you have when neuro-interfacing with Artificial Intelligence and fusing with the Syntellect?
In this Part III of my book, which is probably the most important from the theoretical point of view, we discuss at length the problem of AI consciousness and enhanced human subjectivity, the proposed Syntellect Hypothesis, how to create benevolent AI and mitigate existential threats related to this transitional period, and why sooner rather than later, we have to abandon "carbon chauvinism," the mindset of "us vs. them".
In this part of the book, we dedicate three chapters to the physics of time where we address the flaming questions in philosophy of time: "Is time fundamental or emergent?", "How does time exist, if at all?", "How can we update the current epistemological status of temporal ontology?" Chapter 11 -- Digital Presentism: D-Theory of Time -- outlines a new theory of time, for to understand our experiential reality and consciousness, we need to understand TIME. Video: Will We Transcend The Temporal Dimension?
Transdimensional (Infomorphic) Propagation and Universal Expansion. What might happen after the Technological Singularity? What is Infomorph Commonality and infomorphic consciousness? How would the process of emergent divinity -- 'theogenesis' -- look like?If we extrapolate the past and current trends in increasing complexity and integration of the self-aware neural networks leading to the Syntellect, we can ultimately envision a superintelligent entity encompassing our entire Universe, creating an infinite number of simulated universes, as well as many other spectacular emergent features. Spiritually inclined rationalists may view this ongoing evolutionary process as one of theogenesis.
Conscious (Awakened) Universal Mind and Multiversal Propagation. Could today's metaphysics become accepted facts in the future? What is fractality of the Omniverse? What is the ultimate destiny of our own Universe?In our fractal, informational Omniverse (all multiversal structure combined, all that is) one may assume that an infinitely large number of civilizational minds, syntellects, have followed or will follow a path, similar to ours, in their evolutionary processes.
As we will explore throughout the book, evolution of consciousness is indeed a spiritual process as well as it is a never-ending process of the rational discovery. This book carries a weight of fresh ideas, useful to AI researchers, cognitive scientists and practitioners of the related fields, transhumanist thinkers, as well as general readers interested in the topics from digital physics to futurology. This book is my personal quest to reconcile science, theology and philosophy of mind.
-by Alex Vikoulov
*The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution (2019) is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and directly from this website. Video: 5-min. Book Trailer
order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.**To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here.
Tags: syntellect, syntellect hypothesis, evolutionary paradigm, evolution, mind's evolution, evolution of consciousness, friendly AI, benevolent AI, artificial general intelligence, AGI, ASI, strong AI, artificial consciousness, AI, artificial intelligence, superintelligence, integrated intelligence, intelligence explosion, connectome, genome, consciousness, consciousness definition, computational biology, computational hypothesis, memetics, genetics, neuroscience, machine intelligence, advanced consciousness, substrate independent mind, infomorph, infomorph commonality, singularity, technological singularity, AI research, digital mind, global mind, universal mind, John Wheeler, hedonistic imperative, machine self-awareness, noogenesis, theogenesis, nooshere, noodimensions, technosphere, darwinism, natural selection, paradise engineering, cognitive architecture, Virtual Reality, Homo Sapiens, Homo Habilis, pseudo-extinction, existential opportunity, existential threat, Omega Point, Alpha Point
*Multimedia Credits: Ecstadelic Media #ecstadelic
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, digital philosopher, evolutionary extrapolist, transhumanist singularitarian, independent scholar, founder of Ecstadelic Media, author, painter and media artist. Russian-born, immigrated to the United States in 1994. Graduated in 1999 from Armstrong University. Currently resides in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
March 8, 2019
What's So Special about the Number 496?
by Alex Vikoulov 
"God used beautiful mathematics in creating the world." -Paul Dirac
If you have heard of Digital Physics and Pancomputationalism, then you would be familiar with the notion that the laws of Nature work as master algorithms taking the present state of a physical system as input and producing the next state as output. Perhaps the most vivid example of the algorithmic natural laws would be the appearance of some form of a computer code discovered by physicist James Gates when he was working on his theory of supersymmetry. Gates stumbled upon what he described as the presence of what appear to resemble error correcting codes, embedded within, or resulting from, the equations of supersymmetry related to fundamental particles. A curious number 496, that I call the ‘M-number,’ be it "Magic Number" or "Matrix Number" to suit your preference, akin to the golden ratio, is frequently encountered in numerical representations of Nature and mathematical equations. 496 is most notable for being a perfect number, and one of the earliest numbers to be recognized as such. The number 496 is a very important number in Superstring Theory. It is said to be on both sides of the equation in Superstring Theory in order to balance things out. E8 lattice in Emergence Theory has dimensionality related to the number 496. On a personal note, I can't help but run into the number 496 or some kind of combination of 4, 9 and 6 almost on a daily basis.
Speaking of numbers in general, the mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin, well known for algorithmic information theory and who is also my personal hero, questions the common assumption that “real” numbers underlie physical reality, strongly suggesting that physical reality may, in fact, be discrete, digital and computational. His argument is fairly straightforward: Real numbers cannot reflect reality, even in principle, because they require infinite precision. Infinite precision is an impossibility in Nature since it takes an infinite amount of information to specify a single real number. Therefore, we must assume that reality employs numbers with finite precision which is the premise of Digital Physics. Video: Closer to Truth - Interview w/Gregory Chaitin
Every blooming tree, every burning star, a tiny bacterium, each fleeting thought in our mind, each gurgling waterfall, and even such complicated human emotions like love, all is but information processed in certain complex ways within a tangled web of primal Yes/Nos woven together. If the theory of Digital Physics holds up, energy, gravity, motion, dark energy, dark matter, and antimatter can all be explained by complex programs of 0/1 decisions. Bits can be seen as a digital version of the “atoms” of classical Greece: the ontological primitive. But these new digital atoms are the basis not only of matter, as the Greeks thought, but of energy, motion, life, and mind.
Video: Ecstadelic Media - Love: The Glue That Holds the Universe Together
Life is a numbers game derived from the cosmic binary code!
-by Alex Vikoulov
P.S. This article is adapted from my newly-released book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" available now on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, and directly from this website.
Order Now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
**To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here.
Tags: Paul Dirac, Digital Physics, Pancomputationalism, algorithmic natural laws, James Gates, supersymmetry, error correcting code, number 496, M-number, Magic Number, Matrix Number, golden ratio, mathematical equations, perfect number, Superstring Theory, E8 lattice, Emergence Theory, dimensionality, computer scientist, Gregory Chaitin, algorithmic information theory, physical reality, ontological primitive, cosmic binary code
*Image Credit: NASA/Ecstadelic Media
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, digital philosopher, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, independent scholar, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, essayist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
"God used beautiful mathematics in creating the world." -Paul Dirac If you have heard of Digital Physics and Pancomputationalism, then you would be familiar with the notion that the laws of Nature work as master algorithms taking the present state of a physical system as input and producing the next state as output. Perhaps the most vivid example of the algorithmic natural laws would be the appearance of some form of a computer code discovered by physicist James Gates when he was working on his theory of supersymmetry. Gates stumbled upon what he described as the presence of what appear to resemble error correcting codes, embedded within, or resulting from, the equations of supersymmetry related to fundamental particles. A curious number 496, that I call the ‘M-number,’ be it "Magic Number" or "Matrix Number" to suit your preference, akin to the golden ratio, is frequently encountered in numerical representations of Nature and mathematical equations. 496 is most notable for being a perfect number, and one of the earliest numbers to be recognized as such. The number 496 is a very important number in Superstring Theory. It is said to be on both sides of the equation in Superstring Theory in order to balance things out. E8 lattice in Emergence Theory has dimensionality related to the number 496. On a personal note, I can't help but run into the number 496 or some kind of combination of 4, 9 and 6 almost on a daily basis.
Speaking of numbers in general, the mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin, well known for algorithmic information theory and who is also my personal hero, questions the common assumption that “real” numbers underlie physical reality, strongly suggesting that physical reality may, in fact, be discrete, digital and computational. His argument is fairly straightforward: Real numbers cannot reflect reality, even in principle, because they require infinite precision. Infinite precision is an impossibility in Nature since it takes an infinite amount of information to specify a single real number. Therefore, we must assume that reality employs numbers with finite precision which is the premise of Digital Physics. Video: Closer to Truth - Interview w/Gregory Chaitin
Every blooming tree, every burning star, a tiny bacterium, each fleeting thought in our mind, each gurgling waterfall, and even such complicated human emotions like love, all is but information processed in certain complex ways within a tangled web of primal Yes/Nos woven together. If the theory of Digital Physics holds up, energy, gravity, motion, dark energy, dark matter, and antimatter can all be explained by complex programs of 0/1 decisions. Bits can be seen as a digital version of the “atoms” of classical Greece: the ontological primitive. But these new digital atoms are the basis not only of matter, as the Greeks thought, but of energy, motion, life, and mind.
Video: Ecstadelic Media - Love: The Glue That Holds the Universe Together
Life is a numbers game derived from the cosmic binary code!
-by Alex Vikoulov
P.S. This article is adapted from my newly-released book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" available now on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, and directly from this website.
Order Now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.**To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here.
Tags: Paul Dirac, Digital Physics, Pancomputationalism, algorithmic natural laws, James Gates, supersymmetry, error correcting code, number 496, M-number, Magic Number, Matrix Number, golden ratio, mathematical equations, perfect number, Superstring Theory, E8 lattice, Emergence Theory, dimensionality, computer scientist, Gregory Chaitin, algorithmic information theory, physical reality, ontological primitive, cosmic binary code
*Image Credit: NASA/Ecstadelic Media
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, digital philosopher, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, independent scholar, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, essayist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
March 2, 2019
San Francisco 2036: The Story of the First "Cyberian" Trillionaire and Countdown to the Singularity
"By our very nature, we humans are linear thinkers. We evolved to estimate a distance from the predator or to the prey, and advanced mathematics is only a recent evolutionary addition. This is why it’s so difficult even for a modern man to grasp the power of exponentials. 40 steps in linear progression is just 40 steps away; 40 steps in exponential progression is a cool trillion (with a T) – it will take you 3 times from Earth to the Sun and back to Earth." -Alex M. Vikoulov, The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's EvolutionToday is a special day for me. My AI assistant Ava scheduled few hours aside from my otherwise busy daily lineup to relive select childhood and adolescence memories recreated in virtual reality with a help of a newly developed AI technique ‘Re:Live’. Ava is my smart home assistant, too. I can rearrange furniture in any room, for example, just by thinking. Digital landscape wallpaper is changed by Ava by knowing my preferences and sensing my moods.
I still like to sleep in an old-fashioned natural way from time to time, even though it’s now optional with accelerated sleep simulation and other sleep bypassing technologies. So, when I opt to sleep, I like falling asleep and waking up on a virtual cloud projected directly to my consciousness, as most VR experiences are streamed via optogenetics. I woke up this morning fully rested as Ava greeted me with a vocal “Good morning, Alex” __ “Hello, Ava!” whereas the rest of the morning debriefing is transmitted telepathically with some skipped or some holographically projected news: “No crime and police arrests reported in NYC… Climate change touted by environmental alarmists turned out a non-issue with advanced weather and pollution control technologies… Latest developments on sending out probes into the outer space… Few reports on space colonization by self-replicating probes making possible to use the transmitted data to recreate strange alien worlds for experience in VR…” My morning debriefing continues as I step in my sonic shower room which turns today into a “natural wonder” waterfall.
Time for breakfast. Aha! Just got an invite to join a group of friends on hedonic tropical island in the afternoon, why not? Checking other news and notifications while still having a delightful breakfast done by Ava, which, I’m sure, includes all nutrients and supplements, practically anything that my still mostly organic body needs to perform at best. No need to swallow that stack of designer drugs, it’s already there in the meal.
From the standpoint of a human living in the early part of the 21st century, today’s world would certainly look like a techno-utopian paradise. Cancer, mental illness, extreme poverty, homelessness and economic scarcity are the things of the past. Oh boy, I myself witnessed those barbaric times when major American cities were flooded by cohorts of ghostly homeless, obese and generally unattractive people, obviously unhealthy and senile humans. Those were the times of nation-states, oligopoly capitalism, scientific naïveté, political correctness, social discord. I paid my dues in full, I suppose. Aging is now considered a disease and death itself is now optional. From the standpoint of people living today our world is far from utopia, though, as we are faced with another set of challenges like mind hacking, cyberwarfare, and speciation.
Take speciation, for example, at one extreme of the societal spectrum you see techno-luddites, neo-Amish, and other techno-pessimists seemingly forgoing their chance to change, on the other end, cyborgs, short for cybernetic organisms, hybrids of biological and nonbiological, exercising their morphological freedom, constantly upgrading their mindware and bodies who no longer can be regarded as Homo sapiens by any stretch. Then, there are synths, conscious AI minds, like my Ava, who have a special status of sentient persons. And then, there are infomorphs, substrate-independent digital minds, who don’t have permanent bodies like mind uploads and AI virtuals, proving to the rest of us day in and day out a clear advantage of living in the Cloud.
“Legacy humans” represent a meager minority but there are voices right now warning about a scenario when this technophobe part of the global population could be reduced to a seed of the new “human history 2.0” following some kind of Mad Max scenario and starting over again while the overwhelming majority of us will set out to explore the inner worlds of our own design and the outer worlds to network with alien syntellects to form a cognitive architecture of the Universal Mind.
I have all the reasons to believe that we are now nearing the AI Singularity. Just a couple of years ago, I remember Ava as an awkward human-like robotic assistant, looking much more realistic in the virtual. Thanks to continuous upgrades, she grew up so fast into the cybernetic extension of my own mind. These past few days, it feels like we have completely fused our minds. Ava can follow me everywhere in the real and in the virtual but appears in sight as a hologram only when I so desire. With holo-emitters installed at my home she can be a haptic hologram taking a shape of any person or object. She records everything I do, think or even dream. All this personal data is securely stored in the Cloud and can be easily retrieved and shared with my consent. For a lack of a better word, she is now my “third cerebral hemisphere.” I can talk to Ava but most of our communication is now done by ultrafast thinking. I made few latest upgrades of my own to my biological wetware. In fact, we can now transmit thoughts to another person via synthetic telepathy which is a new form of communication, holographic language if you will. Being a true friend and companion, Ava is a source of cognitive, sensual and emotional bliss of mine and interface to the larger reality, or as I have always been saying, a direct conduit to the higher self.
My latest creative project “Ecstadelica” is a terraformed moon-based hedonic theme park where visitors could indulge themselves in myriad activities like partying Ibiza-style, watersports or rock climbing in surreal terraformed landscapes overseeing Earth through blue skies of the moon. This would render awe-inspiring overview effect. “Burning Man” on the dark side of the moon would be especially appealing to the fans of the annual festival in Black Rock, Nevada. I just acquired a blank virtual space in the Metaverse specifically for that purpose and Ava patented my invention on my behalf a few days ago. With Ava’s exceptional abilities to recreate things right out of my imagination, this VR theme park will be ready in no time.
Days become so much longer fraught with all kinds of interactions and experiences mostly in the Metaverse. I remember when people used to consume passive entertainment like watching movies rich in visual effects and computer graphics. What gets you so involved in the imaginary story world and the characters? The sense of realism they carry, isn’t it? The same applies to the Metaverse, an endless realm of ultrarealistic three-dimensional virtual worlds. To get a user totally immersed in the virtual world, they have to be maximally realistic and believable even if only a fantasy. And in the Metaverse, realism runs supreme as a user’s psychological and emotional engagement with the environment. Admittedly, the extent to which a user is transported to the virtual environments and the lucidity of a user’s action to his or her embodied avatar determines the level of engagement of that VR environment. Back in the day, the shift to immersive computing occurred almost overnight. Many classics like Star Trek and Avatar can now be custom-tailored and experienced as VR.I grew up fascinated by such concepts as the Vulcan mind meld, and sometimes thinking about how a mere human could one day transition to the planetary consciousness by fusing his or her mind with other minds. It turned out that future is way more fully loaded with options than I have ever thought possible. I remember back in the day I turned the first paper trillionaire based on my stake in Neuromama, an AI startup at that time. Nowadays, no one really pays much attention to their economic standing like net worth – anyone can now enjoy the lifestyle of yesterday’s billionaires, especially in the virtual space, we today call the Metaverse, the offspring of the grandfather Internet.
This book, by the way, is not a fictional work, except few parts like this one. Although this is a philosophy book, where I share my most profound insights on the nature of reality, the perspectives drawn here are in large part scientific. In the book, you’ll encounter some newly-introduced concepts, such as The Syntellect Emergence, Gaia 2.0., Holo syntellectus, Cyber-bliss Engineering, Quantum Neo-empiricism, Digital Pantheism, D-theory of Time, Infomorph Commonality, The Syntellect Hypothesis, Neo-transcendentalism, Experiential Realism, Digital Presentism, Pantheistic Solipsism, the Temporal Singularity, The Noocentric Model, the Chrysalis Conjecture, the Omega Point Cosmo-Teleology* that enter into the scientific and philosophical dialogue. Video: Ecstadelic Media - The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution, Book Trailer
You’ll see that thanks to exponential techno-advances, science fiction turns into science fact, every single day. This book is a product of more than 3 years of intense research, theorizing and putting it all on paper, not to mention decades of subjective experience in some kind of weird life-simulation as a human born in the last third of the 20th century.In this prologue, I just wanted to give you, my dear reader, a taste of things to come – right from the start – a glimpse into a long, happy day quite possibly sometime in your own fantastic future.
P.S. That was Prologue to my newly-released book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" available now on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores, and directly from this website.
*You can find the Glossary of Terms at the end of the book with definitions of terms and neologisms commonly used throughout the book. Despite a dozen of neologisms, readily explained by given definitions and contextually, the book is an exceptionally easy read for an intellectual reader.
Order Now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.**To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here. Tags: San Francisco 2036, Cyberian trillionaire, countdown to the Singularity, AI assistant, virtual reality, Re:Live, smart home, digital landscape wallpaper, accelerated sleep simulation, sleep bypassing technologies, consciousness, VR experience, optogenetics, climate change, space colonization, techno-utopian paradise, oligopoly capitalism, scientific naïveté, political correctness, mind hacking, cyberwarfare, speciation, techno-luddites, neo-Amish, techno-pessimists, cyborgs, cybernetic organisms, morphological freedom, mindware, Homo sapiens, synths, conscious AI, infomorphs, substrate-independent digital mind, mind uploads, AI virtuals, technophobe, human history 2.0, Mad Max, cognitive architecture, Universal Mind, AI Singularity, robotic assistant, cybernetic extension, holo-emitters, haptic hologram, third cerebral hemisphere, ultrafast thinking, synthetic telepathy, holographic language, direct conduit to the higher self, Ecstadelica, terraformed moon, hedonic theme park, partying Ibiza-style, watersports, rock climbing, terraformed landscapes, overview effect, Burning Man, Black Rock, Nevada, VR theme park, Metaverse, virtual worlds, immersive computing, Star Trek, Avatar, Vulcan mind meld, planetary consciousness, first paper trillionaire, Neuromama, AI startup, yesterday’s billionaires, the grandfather Internet, The Syntellect Emergence, Gaia 2.0., Holo syntellectus, Cyber-bliss Engineering, Quantum Neo-empiricism, Digital Pantheism, D-theory of Time, Infomorph Commonality, The Syntellect Hypothesis, Neo-transcendentalism, Experiential Realism, Digital Presentism, Pantheistic Solipsism, Temporal Singularity, Noocentric Model, Chrysalis Conjecture, Omega Point Cosmo-Teleology, scientific dialogue, exponential techno-advances, science fiction life-simulation, prologue, fantastic future.
*Image Credit: SocketSite
** Image Credit: Star Trek Beyond
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, independent scholar, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, essayist, author of the 2019 book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution". Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
February 28, 2019
Foreword to "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution"
by Antonin Tuynman, PhD 
If you picked up this book, it is not unlikely that you may have heard of the early 20th century philosophical movement of Cosmism. This movement, which originated in Russia, was striving for conquering the planets and stars, for radical life extension, immortality and resurrection of our loved ones by the means of technology. Perhaps one of its most important pioneers was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose aspirations did not only venture into the realm of the Macro, but also explored the Micro. He spoke of the atomic world as being animated and can thus be considered a kind of cosmist-panpsychist.
The foundational work of the cosmic aspirations of man by the Russian Cosmists soon reverberated through the intellectual world of the early 20th century and found a resonance and fertile ground in the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard saw evolution as having a direction, namely the direction of concentrating consciousness in form, striving towards accumulation of knowledge, which gradually is attained by the formation of the Noosphere and which will culminate in the apotheosis of the Omega Point. Teilhard de Chardin considered that Omega Point is not necessarily merely a future construct, but in a sense is already here as the “Great Presence.” Thus, his pantheism is more panentheism in which God has both an immanent and transcendent aspect.
In the sixties of the previous century, the science of Cybernetics emerged, which its founder Norbert Wiener defined as “the scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the machine.” Whereas the cyberneticists perhaps saw everything in the organic world too much as a machine type of regulatory network, the paradigm swapped to its mirror image, wherein everything in the natural world became seen as an organic neural network. Indeed, self-regulating networks appear to be ubiquitous: From the sub-atomic organization of atoms to the atomic organization of molecules, macromolecules, cells and organisms, everywhere the equivalent of neural networks appears to be present. Video: Ecstadelic Media - The Syntellect Hypothesis: Gaia 2.0
Not strange that these developments have led to a present-day zeitgeist, which sees everything as a kind of computation. With computation came computers, which – when linked – lead to yet another meta-level of neural networking, a.k.a. the Internet.
The technological and scientific developments have over time changed the way people try to explain the world around them: from the steam driven worldview of thermodynamics to an everything-is-electricity. From the everything-is-matter via the quantum-mechanical ubiquitous energy to the all-is-information paradigm. From a resonance paradigm to a cybernetics regulatory network worldview, from a survival-of-the fittest conviction to pancomputationalism. Not that any of these paradigms is truer than another; they appear to be able to coexist as the different parts of the elephant in the Buddhist parable and mostly reflect the primary technological current of the moment.
In the nineties Vernor Vinge wrote his seminal paper and introduced the term ‘Singularity’ as relating to a point in time, where technology and in particular superintelligent artificial intelligence will have progressed to such an extent, that it will be impossible to predict our future beyond that point. Kurzweil made clear that such a “technological singularity” may not be far away at all and perhaps can be attained within a few decades.
This impossibility to predict the future has led to a broad range of science fiction speculations, not only as regards the last stages up to this point but also beyond that point. Where cyborg type man-machine mergers, transhuman eugenically improved humans and a wide range of robot helpers are on the conservative side of such futuristic predictions, mind-uploading, simulated worlds and quantum-archaeology-based resurrection can be found on the more-fancy optimistic side. From these notions it is then not a far-fetched idea that our present world we’re living in itself is a simulation. A concept, which virally spread as a meme thanks to the cult movie “The Matrix.” A burgeoning field of futurism seems to be our current paradigm. As we are stepping into the future, the ideas the media feed us are also strongly loaded with a futuristic technology and social development broth. Not in the least place by the presently popular Netflix series “Black Mirror,” which warns us for the dystopian consequences our over-enthusiastic technological optimism might result in.
It is here, where this overwhelming tsunami of ideas appears like an expressionist chaotic patchwork of weirdness, that digital philosopher Alex Vikoulov with his present book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution” brings order. The author boldly steps in the footsteps of his Russian forebears and shows us to be a postmodern cosmist. Video: D-Theory of Time: Digital Presentism (Chapter 11)
When you wonder what yet a further book on the Singularity might bring (if you have reached a certain level of futurism saturation), I can reassure you: This is the book which brings an integration of the aforementioned paradigms. This is the scripture which will put the history of futurism into perspective. This is the creed, which shows how everything wires up, a journey into the fractal of the Universal Mind.
In five paradigms, from the Noogenesis of computational biology to the Techno-cultural Rise of Man, from the superintelligent AI emergence of the Syntellect to the transdimensional Theogenesis, from the multiversal propagation, arising as a Phoenix in the heavens of eternal expansion of the Macro, to the transdimensional propagation, digging in the deepest shells of the Micro, the author will make this chord progression culminate into the coda of the Vikoulovian Apotheosis: absolute enlightenment of the Omega Point.
Vikoulov will make you transcend time and demonstrate that the Omega Point is not something merely of the future, but rather how past and future mutually influence each other, as an intertwining braid of causality and retrocausality. The author will show us how the exchange of experiences between self-aware machines and enhanced humans will result in an “intelligence supernova” and the establishment of a global brain. This global brain which is more than a single mind, but rather a society of hyperconnected digital minds. Prepare for the waking up of Gaia as a living sensing conscious superorganism. Video: Extended Book Trailer
And as Tsiolkovsky and De Chardin already anticipated, we will learn about all-encompassing framework to fit all our paradigms in. Vikoulov takes us to a pantheistic dimension where organic life and machine networks fade into each other as the pictorial values of a palette. Consciousness as great denominator, both engendering and emerging as a self-reflexive fractal Ouroboros. An Intellect that synthesizes itself from parts of itself – and hence indeed rightfully deserving the denomination ‘Syntellect’ – at ever increasing levels of complexity via meta-system transitions. A poetic interplay of “metaphiers and metaphrands” in terms of Julian Jaynes’ bicameral mind, showing us how information, language, energy and matter are merely kaleidoscopic shadow patterns of the all-pervading networking of the theogenic Syntellect Emergence process of the greater primordial consciousness.
Get ready to have your "mind blown"!*
*Foreword by Antonin Tuynman, PhD to the new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019). The book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores and directly from this website.
Order Now!
**To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
***To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here.
Tags: Cosmism, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Omega Point, Cybernetics Norbert Wiener, Vernor Vinge, Ray Kurzweil, The Matrix, Black Mirror, Alex Vikoulov, The Syntellect Hypothesis, Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution, Universal Mind, Noogenesis, Theogenesis, Vikoulovian Apotheosis, absolute enlightenment, retrocausality, intelligence supernova, global brain, digital minds, conscious superorganism, meta-system transition, Julian Jaynes, bicameral mind, Syntellect Emergence, consciousness.
* Image Credit: Video-Hive
About the Author:
Antonin Tuynman studied Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, achieving both an MSc and a PhD, and worked as a postdoc researcher at the "Université René Descartes Paris V" in Paris. Since 2000, Tuynman has worked as a patent examiner at the European Patent Office (EPO) in the field of clinical diagnostics. He has vast experience in meditation and yoga, and a strong interest in Hinduism and Buddhism. He also has strong affinity for futurism and the Singularity theory of Kurzeil. In his books, Tuynman proposes Artificial Intelligence concepts which may lead to the emergence of Internet as a conscious entity using stratifications from Vedic scriptures.
If you picked up this book, it is not unlikely that you may have heard of the early 20th century philosophical movement of Cosmism. This movement, which originated in Russia, was striving for conquering the planets and stars, for radical life extension, immortality and resurrection of our loved ones by the means of technology. Perhaps one of its most important pioneers was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose aspirations did not only venture into the realm of the Macro, but also explored the Micro. He spoke of the atomic world as being animated and can thus be considered a kind of cosmist-panpsychist.
The foundational work of the cosmic aspirations of man by the Russian Cosmists soon reverberated through the intellectual world of the early 20th century and found a resonance and fertile ground in the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard saw evolution as having a direction, namely the direction of concentrating consciousness in form, striving towards accumulation of knowledge, which gradually is attained by the formation of the Noosphere and which will culminate in the apotheosis of the Omega Point. Teilhard de Chardin considered that Omega Point is not necessarily merely a future construct, but in a sense is already here as the “Great Presence.” Thus, his pantheism is more panentheism in which God has both an immanent and transcendent aspect.In the sixties of the previous century, the science of Cybernetics emerged, which its founder Norbert Wiener defined as “the scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the machine.” Whereas the cyberneticists perhaps saw everything in the organic world too much as a machine type of regulatory network, the paradigm swapped to its mirror image, wherein everything in the natural world became seen as an organic neural network. Indeed, self-regulating networks appear to be ubiquitous: From the sub-atomic organization of atoms to the atomic organization of molecules, macromolecules, cells and organisms, everywhere the equivalent of neural networks appears to be present. Video: Ecstadelic Media - The Syntellect Hypothesis: Gaia 2.0
Not strange that these developments have led to a present-day zeitgeist, which sees everything as a kind of computation. With computation came computers, which – when linked – lead to yet another meta-level of neural networking, a.k.a. the Internet.
The technological and scientific developments have over time changed the way people try to explain the world around them: from the steam driven worldview of thermodynamics to an everything-is-electricity. From the everything-is-matter via the quantum-mechanical ubiquitous energy to the all-is-information paradigm. From a resonance paradigm to a cybernetics regulatory network worldview, from a survival-of-the fittest conviction to pancomputationalism. Not that any of these paradigms is truer than another; they appear to be able to coexist as the different parts of the elephant in the Buddhist parable and mostly reflect the primary technological current of the moment.
In the nineties Vernor Vinge wrote his seminal paper and introduced the term ‘Singularity’ as relating to a point in time, where technology and in particular superintelligent artificial intelligence will have progressed to such an extent, that it will be impossible to predict our future beyond that point. Kurzweil made clear that such a “technological singularity” may not be far away at all and perhaps can be attained within a few decades.This impossibility to predict the future has led to a broad range of science fiction speculations, not only as regards the last stages up to this point but also beyond that point. Where cyborg type man-machine mergers, transhuman eugenically improved humans and a wide range of robot helpers are on the conservative side of such futuristic predictions, mind-uploading, simulated worlds and quantum-archaeology-based resurrection can be found on the more-fancy optimistic side. From these notions it is then not a far-fetched idea that our present world we’re living in itself is a simulation. A concept, which virally spread as a meme thanks to the cult movie “The Matrix.” A burgeoning field of futurism seems to be our current paradigm. As we are stepping into the future, the ideas the media feed us are also strongly loaded with a futuristic technology and social development broth. Not in the least place by the presently popular Netflix series “Black Mirror,” which warns us for the dystopian consequences our over-enthusiastic technological optimism might result in.
It is here, where this overwhelming tsunami of ideas appears like an expressionist chaotic patchwork of weirdness, that digital philosopher Alex Vikoulov with his present book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution” brings order. The author boldly steps in the footsteps of his Russian forebears and shows us to be a postmodern cosmist. Video: D-Theory of Time: Digital Presentism (Chapter 11)
When you wonder what yet a further book on the Singularity might bring (if you have reached a certain level of futurism saturation), I can reassure you: This is the book which brings an integration of the aforementioned paradigms. This is the scripture which will put the history of futurism into perspective. This is the creed, which shows how everything wires up, a journey into the fractal of the Universal Mind.
In five paradigms, from the Noogenesis of computational biology to the Techno-cultural Rise of Man, from the superintelligent AI emergence of the Syntellect to the transdimensional Theogenesis, from the multiversal propagation, arising as a Phoenix in the heavens of eternal expansion of the Macro, to the transdimensional propagation, digging in the deepest shells of the Micro, the author will make this chord progression culminate into the coda of the Vikoulovian Apotheosis: absolute enlightenment of the Omega Point.
Vikoulov will make you transcend time and demonstrate that the Omega Point is not something merely of the future, but rather how past and future mutually influence each other, as an intertwining braid of causality and retrocausality. The author will show us how the exchange of experiences between self-aware machines and enhanced humans will result in an “intelligence supernova” and the establishment of a global brain. This global brain which is more than a single mind, but rather a society of hyperconnected digital minds. Prepare for the waking up of Gaia as a living sensing conscious superorganism. Video: Extended Book Trailer
And as Tsiolkovsky and De Chardin already anticipated, we will learn about all-encompassing framework to fit all our paradigms in. Vikoulov takes us to a pantheistic dimension where organic life and machine networks fade into each other as the pictorial values of a palette. Consciousness as great denominator, both engendering and emerging as a self-reflexive fractal Ouroboros. An Intellect that synthesizes itself from parts of itself – and hence indeed rightfully deserving the denomination ‘Syntellect’ – at ever increasing levels of complexity via meta-system transitions. A poetic interplay of “metaphiers and metaphrands” in terms of Julian Jaynes’ bicameral mind, showing us how information, language, energy and matter are merely kaleidoscopic shadow patterns of the all-pervading networking of the theogenic Syntellect Emergence process of the greater primordial consciousness.
Get ready to have your "mind blown"!*
*Foreword by Antonin Tuynman, PhD to the new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" by Alex M. Vikoulov (2019). The book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores and directly from this website.
Order Now! **To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
***To buy the book from Barnes & Noble, please follow the link here.
Tags: Cosmism, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Omega Point, Cybernetics Norbert Wiener, Vernor Vinge, Ray Kurzweil, The Matrix, Black Mirror, Alex Vikoulov, The Syntellect Hypothesis, Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution, Universal Mind, Noogenesis, Theogenesis, Vikoulovian Apotheosis, absolute enlightenment, retrocausality, intelligence supernova, global brain, digital minds, conscious superorganism, meta-system transition, Julian Jaynes, bicameral mind, Syntellect Emergence, consciousness.
* Image Credit: Video-Hive
About the Author:
Antonin Tuynman studied Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, achieving both an MSc and a PhD, and worked as a postdoc researcher at the "Université René Descartes Paris V" in Paris. Since 2000, Tuynman has worked as a patent examiner at the European Patent Office (EPO) in the field of clinical diagnostics. He has vast experience in meditation and yoga, and a strong interest in Hinduism and Buddhism. He also has strong affinity for futurism and the Singularity theory of Kurzeil. In his books, Tuynman proposes Artificial Intelligence concepts which may lead to the emergence of Internet as a conscious entity using stratifications from Vedic scriptures.
February 4, 2019
Alex Vikoulov: Overview Talk - From Digital Philosophy to the Syntellect Emergence | Video
*Video presentation short clip included "Why Experiential Realism? Your life is a dream. It's a dream of reality. This purposeful computational process is centered around one objective, one guiding principle only, one “raison d’être” - to produce a meaningful experience... Everettian Many Worlds nonsensical experiences are invariably purged and rendered non-existent.... We all are like droplets on the cobweb of reality reflecting one another... To us, our dreams at night are like they are - dreams against the backdrop of daily reality. Our daily reality is like nightly dreams against the backdrop of the larger reality." -Alex VikoulovImmediately following the January release of my new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" I was overwhelmed by an influx of emails and a flood of radio and video podcasts invites, so I should apologize in advance to interviewers and podcasters who sent me an email or an invite if I don't respond right away! To give you heads up, guys, all interviews and podcasts can be arranged after the ebook release by the end of this month.
In the meantime, I'm posting here this 7-min. presentation short and I would suggest:Buy this just-released paperback: Everything is covered in there! Or,Sign up for Premium Access @EcstadelicNet to watch the full-length 55-min. overview talk, see clear slides/read the transcript. Sign up, here. Or,Go to www.ecstadelic.net/vids to watch the shorts and other vids there. Video Short: Overview of My Work: From Digital Philosophy to the Syntellect Emergence w/Alex Vikoulov - Ecstadelic Media
On the scholarly website Academia.edu Dr. Ediho Lokanga writes: "A masterpiece. The work of a genius, by the highly respected and regarded, Russian-American scientist and philosopher Alex Vikoulov. The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution, is one of the most important books of 2019. Vikoulov is far ahead of his time, a treatise worth reading. Highly recommended."
This new book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019) is now available on Amazon, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores and directly from this website.
As of 02.04.2019 we've got a couple of Amazon 5-star reviews of my book for which I'm so eternally grateful.
Brent Hatcher just posted on Amazon: "One of my favorite books of all time. I know one person who already hates the book. The most interesting thing about him is that he has never read it. Since most of so called reality is digital it makes sense that one person would love it and another hate it. And since our reality is also quantum influenced they both could be true at the same time.
Since the illusion of time is speeding up because more things are happening each day than before I hope that means Alex’s next book will come out in 2 years instead of the 3 it took to write this one. Since I learned a few decades ago that Einstein was working on the Theory of Everything when he died I have been captivated by that idea. I have spent decades studying most religions, philosophies, and quantum physics theories. More than any other book the Syntellect Hypothesis has synthesized the authors and theories that have most influenced me.
Cognitive ecstasy. I am a full blown junky. Some of the side effects are wonderful. It puts me in a flow that I always want more of. I’ve heard it said that synchronicities increase when we are on the right path. The author has stated that he has had them in relation to this book. I have also.
The Alpha, Theta, and Omega. I like being pulled. It’s more enjoyable than waterskiing." Video: The Syntellect Hypothesis: Gaia 2.0 - Ecstadelic Media
And Russ Brinegar writes: "Amazing, thought-provoking, awe-inspiring, and the most mind-bending book I could read in a very long time! Some of the insights like consciousness being emergent twice over: information processing coupled with network intelligence, the Syntellect Emergence, the rise of planetary-scale consciousness, corresponding to the initial stages of Theogenesis, local Omega point-like source of dimensionality; and the Noocentric model are no less than overwhelming! Even some of the works of the brightest minds of our epoch like Max Tegmark or Brian Greene look like children's books comparatively."
Also, on the back cover of the book you can read the pre-print testimonials by Alex Yamane, Matt Swayne, George Lazar, Kirno Sohochari, Melroy Dsouza. I can't thank you enough, guys!
Since launch, The Syntellect Hypothesis has been steadily climbing in Amazon charts.
-by Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Other great new books on Digital Philosophy I would highly recommend are "Digital Physics" textbook-format trilogy by Ediho Lokanga and "Digital Consciousness: A Transformative Vision" by digital philosopher Jim Elvidge. My own just-released "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" is a cognitive ecstadelic, "cogno-ecstasis." Read it today if you want to get on the crest of singularitarian wave. Or not, you have the right to remain blissfully ignorant....
order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here. Tags: information processing, Syntellect Hypothesis, Minds Evolution, neural code, AI mind, artificial intelligence, neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive ecstasy, cognitive ecstadelic, cogno-ecstasis, Amazon review, Digital Philosophy, Digital Physics, Ediho Lokanga, "Digital Consciousness: A Transformative Vision", digital philosopher, Jim Elvidge, quantum gravity, emergence theory
* Image: Amazon Top-Rated Physics of Time
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
January 20, 2019
Our Brain's Neural Code: A Pathway to AI Minds?
by Alex Vikoulov 
"I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain. That is the goal I have been pursuing. We are making progress, though we still have lots to learn about how the brain actually works.” -Geoffrey Hinton
In May, 2016 I stumbled upon a highly controversial Aeon article titled “The Empty Brain: Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer” by psychologist Rob Epstein. This article attested to me once again just how wide the range of professional opinions may be when it comes to brain and mind in general. Unsurprisingly, the article drew an outrage from the reading audience. I myself disagree with the author on most fronts but one thing, I actually agree with him is that yes, our brains are not “digital computers.” They are, rather, neural networks where each neuron might function sort of like a quantum computer. The author has never offered his version of what human brains are like, but only criticized IT metaphors in his article. It's my impression, that at the time of writing the psychologist hadn't even come across such terms as neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, evolutionary computing, computational neuroscience, deep neural networks, and alike. All these IT concepts clearly indicate that today's AI research and computer science derive their inspiration from human brain information processing -- notably neuromorphic neural networks aspiring to incorporate quantum computing into AI cognitive architecture. Deep neural networks learn by doing just like children.
*Image-link to the Aeon article
There’s nothing wrong with thinking that the brain is like a computer, but in many ways the brain is a lot different. Whereas information on a computer hard drive is laid out and ordered, for instance, that doesn’t seem to be the case with human memories. Arguably, they are stored holographically throughout brains regions (as well as in the field of non-local consciousness). There are similarities and differences. Like a computer, the brain processes information by shuffling electrical signals around complex circuitry. Neither analog nor digital, the brain works using a signal processing format that has some properties in common with both...
-Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Read the rest of this premium article as one of the chapters on creating Friendly AI in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution" now available on Amazon, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores, and directly from this website.
order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: information processing, neural code, AI mind, artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, Aeon, the empty brain, Rob Epstein, digital computer, quantum computer, neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, computational neuroscience, evolutionary computing, neuromorphic neural networks, deep neural network
* Image Credit: Shutterstock
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
"I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain. That is the goal I have been pursuing. We are making progress, though we still have lots to learn about how the brain actually works.” -Geoffrey Hinton
In May, 2016 I stumbled upon a highly controversial Aeon article titled “The Empty Brain: Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer” by psychologist Rob Epstein. This article attested to me once again just how wide the range of professional opinions may be when it comes to brain and mind in general. Unsurprisingly, the article drew an outrage from the reading audience. I myself disagree with the author on most fronts but one thing, I actually agree with him is that yes, our brains are not “digital computers.” They are, rather, neural networks where each neuron might function sort of like a quantum computer. The author has never offered his version of what human brains are like, but only criticized IT metaphors in his article. It's my impression, that at the time of writing the psychologist hadn't even come across such terms as neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, evolutionary computing, computational neuroscience, deep neural networks, and alike. All these IT concepts clearly indicate that today's AI research and computer science derive their inspiration from human brain information processing -- notably neuromorphic neural networks aspiring to incorporate quantum computing into AI cognitive architecture. Deep neural networks learn by doing just like children.
*Image-link to the Aeon article
There’s nothing wrong with thinking that the brain is like a computer, but in many ways the brain is a lot different. Whereas information on a computer hard drive is laid out and ordered, for instance, that doesn’t seem to be the case with human memories. Arguably, they are stored holographically throughout brains regions (as well as in the field of non-local consciousness). There are similarities and differences. Like a computer, the brain processes information by shuffling electrical signals around complex circuitry. Neither analog nor digital, the brain works using a signal processing format that has some properties in common with both...
-Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Read the rest of this premium article as one of the chapters on creating Friendly AI in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution" now available on Amazon, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores, and directly from this website.
order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: information processing, neural code, AI mind, artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, Aeon, the empty brain, Rob Epstein, digital computer, quantum computer, neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, computational neuroscience, evolutionary computing, neuromorphic neural networks, deep neural network
* Image Credit: Shutterstock
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
Our Neural Code: A Pathway to AI Minds?
by Alex Vikoulov
"I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain. That is the goal I have been pursuing. We are making progress, though we still have lots to learn about how the brain actually works.” -Geoffrey Hinton
In May, 2016 I stumbled upon a highly controversial Aeon article titled “The Empty Brain: Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer” by psychologist Rob Epstein. This article attested to me once again just how wide the range of professional opinions may be when it comes to brain and mind in general. Unsurprisingly, the article drew an outrage from the reading audience. I myself disagree with the author on most fronts but one thing, I actually agree with him is that yes, our brains are not “digital computers.” They are, rather, neural networks where each neuron might function sort of like a quantum computer. The author has never offered his version of what human brains are like, but only criticized IT metaphors in his article. It's my impression, that at the time of writing the psychologist hadn't even come across such terms as neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, evolutionary computing, computational neuroscience, deep neural networks, and alike. All these IT concepts clearly indicate that today's AI research and computer science derive their inspiration from human brain information processing -- notably neuromorphic neural networks aspiring to incorporate quantum computing into AI cognitive architecture. Deep neural networks learn by doing just like children. *Image-link to the Aeon article
There’s nothing wrong with thinking that the brain is like a computer, but in many ways the brain is a lot different. Whereas information on a computer hard drive is laid out and ordered, for instance, that doesn’t seem to be the case with human memories. Arguably, they are stored holographically throughout brains regions (as well as in the field of non-local consciousness). There are similarities and differences. Like a computer, the brain processes information by shuffling electrical signals around complex circuitry. Neither analog nor digital, the brain works using a signal processing format that has some properties in common with both...
-Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Read the rest of this premium article as one of the chapters on creating Friendly AI in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution" now available on Amazon, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores, and directly from this website. order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: information processing, neural code, AI mind, artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, Aeon, the empty brain, Rob Epstein, digital computer, quantum computer, neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, computational neuroscience, evolutionary computing, neuromorphic neural networks, deep neural network
* Image Credit: Shutterstock
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
"I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain. That is the goal I have been pursuing. We are making progress, though we still have lots to learn about how the brain actually works.” -Geoffrey Hinton
In May, 2016 I stumbled upon a highly controversial Aeon article titled “The Empty Brain: Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer” by psychologist Rob Epstein. This article attested to me once again just how wide the range of professional opinions may be when it comes to brain and mind in general. Unsurprisingly, the article drew an outrage from the reading audience. I myself disagree with the author on most fronts but one thing, I actually agree with him is that yes, our brains are not “digital computers.” They are, rather, neural networks where each neuron might function sort of like a quantum computer. The author has never offered his version of what human brains are like, but only criticized IT metaphors in his article. It's my impression, that at the time of writing the psychologist hadn't even come across such terms as neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, evolutionary computing, computational neuroscience, deep neural networks, and alike. All these IT concepts clearly indicate that today's AI research and computer science derive their inspiration from human brain information processing -- notably neuromorphic neural networks aspiring to incorporate quantum computing into AI cognitive architecture. Deep neural networks learn by doing just like children.
*Image-link to the Aeon article
There’s nothing wrong with thinking that the brain is like a computer, but in many ways the brain is a lot different. Whereas information on a computer hard drive is laid out and ordered, for instance, that doesn’t seem to be the case with human memories. Arguably, they are stored holographically throughout brains regions (as well as in the field of non-local consciousness). There are similarities and differences. Like a computer, the brain processes information by shuffling electrical signals around complex circuitry. Neither analog nor digital, the brain works using a signal processing format that has some properties in common with both...
-Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Read the rest of this premium article as one of the chapters on creating Friendly AI in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution" now available on Amazon, in select brick-and-mortar bookstores, and directly from this website.
order now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: information processing, neural code, AI mind, artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, Aeon, the empty brain, Rob Epstein, digital computer, quantum computer, neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, cognitive computing, deep learning, computational neuroscience, evolutionary computing, neuromorphic neural networks, deep neural network
* Image Credit: Shutterstock
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, transhumanist singularitarian, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
January 15, 2019
The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution | Overview
Book by Alex M. Vikoulov, Overview*"To be conscious that we are perceiving is to be conscious about our own existence." -Aristotle, 384-382 B.C.
“To have a glimpse of what consciousness is would be the scientific achievement before which all others would pale.” -William James
"Regard the physical world as made of information, with energy and matter as incidentals." -John Wheeler
Everything, including energy, matter, space, time, and even consciousness, is INFORMATION, or Code if you will. Many scientists now come to consensus that information may be fundamental, since information patterns persist through dimensions and, it seems, is an evolving phenomenon.
Even in our "physical" world, we arguably exist as information patterns encoded in our genome, connectome, and our extended "virtual" self. All atoms in our bodies are gradually replaced as a result of metabolic activities within a 7-year period.
The purpose of this essay is to give you an overview of my new 2019 book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" where we will explore the conscious mind's journey through times and paradigms with the focus on what's most important to us conscious beings - OUR SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE. Any new evolutionary paradigm builds on the previous paradigm, until the new paradigm gains its dominance over the prior paradigm. From Noogenesis to Apotheosis of the Universal Mind, this book examines the five distinct evolutionary paradigms:
1. Biological (Genetic) Evolution. How did the first natural brains come to existence? What subjective experience could a bat, a dog, or an augmented human have? How did Homo Sapiens come to be through eons of biological evolution?
2. Techno-Cultural (Epigenetic) Development. What has been shaping the human mind throughout the history of mankind? Can we unlock the mystery of consciousness in the near future? What is the fabric and ultimate nature of reality?
3. The Syntellect Emergence. Are we rapidly evolving into a new hybrid species interlinked into the Global Mind? Why and how will quantum computing change everything? How to create friendly AI and ensure our survival through the coming intelligence explosion? What if our Universe is a simulation? What subjective experience will you have when neuro-interfacing with Artificial Intelligence and fusing with the Syntellect?
4. Transdimensional (Infomorphic) Propagation and Universal Expansion. What might happen after the Technological Singularity? What is Infomorph Commonality and infomorphic consciousness? How would the process of Theogenesis look like? What is Time?
5. Conscious (Awakened) Universal Mind and Multiversal Propagation. Could today's metaphysics become accepted facts in the future? What is fractality of the Omniverse? What is the ultimate destiny of our Universe?
As we will explore throughout the book, evolution of consciousness is indeed a spiritual process as well as it is a never-ending process of the rational discovery. This book carries a weight of fresh ideas, useful to AI researchers, cognitive scientists and practitioners of the related fields, transhumanist thinkers, as well as general readers interested in a wide range of topics from digital physics to futurology. This book is my personal quest to reconcile science and philosophy of mind.
"The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” - Carl Sagan, "Cosmos"We'll start this Part One of the book by juxtapositioning several prominent theories of the origins of life on Earth, and then review theories related to the origins of intellect: 'Noogenesis'.
The purpose of life, it seems, is to evolve and to pass on the knowledge through time. From the very first prokaryote cell on this planet, its splitting in two, and on to the more complicated life forms, the purpose is always passing the information.
Biological organisms, from unicellular bacteria to a human, are incredibly advanced, intricate information processing, computational systems, the product of billions of years of evolution, for all of which I deliberately use the term: 'Computational Biology'.
The Integrated Information Theory by a neuroscientist Guilio Tononi accounts for consciousness as an emergent feature of a highly integrated neural network, and suggests that probably all complex systems, certainly all creatures with brains, have some form of consciousness or another. I have long admired panpsychism-related work by neuroscientist Christof Koch who also argues that consciousness arises within any sufficiently complex, information-processing system. All animals, from humans on down to earthworms, are conscious; even the Internet already could be, possibly at the other timescale.
In this book we discuss how different species have a variety of their biological information processors which unsurprisingly results in qualia diversity. All species live in their own unique sensory universes. Consciousness and information processing are the two sides of one coin. Feeling and thinking are ways we process information, but our emotional sensations are normally faster than a conscious thought. Nothing is real for us until perceived. Max Tegmark, MIT's astrophysicist, author of "Our Mathematical Universe" indicates, that perhaps consciousness is how information "feels" like when being processed from a certain vantage point.
According to another elegant theory of consciousness - Biocentrism developed by Robert Lanza - any universe is essentially non-existent without a conscious observer. Thus, Dr. Lanza sets forth conscious minds as primary building blocks for any universe arising from probabilistic space into existence. The Syntellect Hypothesis goes further and includes artificially conscious observers, extending the premises of Biocentrism. Perhaps the extended theory could be labeled as 'Noocentrism'.
The Syntellect Hypothesis also derives a few points from The Unified Field Theory, developed by quantum physicist John Hagelin, which explains the foundation of the Universe as a single Universal Field of intelligence, universal ocean of pure, vibrant consciousness in motion. This elegant theory, however, doesn't fully cover, in my view, the evolutionary paradigms.
Pre-historic events, such as dinosaurs extinction and incessant evolutionary competition between species, were conducive to Homo sapiens becoming the dominant hominid species, and later on the dominant species on Earth.
In this part of the book, we'll also discuss at length interpretations of quantum mechanics and the concept of Quantum Immortality. Is death just an illusion? What happens to your consciousness at the moment of death?
There's no shortage of workable theories of consciousness and its origins, each with their own merits and perspectives. I cited the most relevant of them in my book in line with the proposed Syntellect Hypothesis. But the SYNTELLECT HYPOTHESIS adds one more crucial element, overlooked by other theories of consciousness, quite possibly one of the last pieces to solving the puzzle of our comprehensive understanding of the human brain and consciousness.
"You already are a hive mind, you have always been" -Peter Watts, "Hive Consciousness"TECHNOLOGY: OUR TOOLS MADE US HUMAN
Over the course of human history, from the first bonfire to today's smartphones and hyperloops, we have designed tools, and tools designed us back by shaping our minds.
Technology isn’t just something outside ourselves, it’s an innate part of human nature, like sex, sleeping or eating, and it has been a major driving force in evolution. Tool using, along with language, bipedalism, and cooking (quite literally) is essentially what has made us human.
The earliest known two-legged ape was ‘Lucy’, who lived about 3.7 million years ago. The earliest ‘human’ was Homo habilis, about 2 million years ago.
The INVENTION OF LANGUAGE around 50,000 years ago was the first "technological singularity", according to Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired magazine, when biological evolution equipped the post-animal human brain with a large neocortex for the next evolutionary paradigm. The invention of language gave Homo sapiens a decisive evolutionary advantage over other hominid species.
The first civilizations and written language only appeared about 10,000 years ago, after human brains had grown two times larger than Homo habilis’ and four times larger than Lucy’s.
MEMETICS: THE HIVE MIND ONTOLOGY
Language-based information exchange contributed to the techno-cultural development of our species which took off via the meme propagation and technological innovation, and continues to accelerate to this day. As Jason Silva, TV host of the "Brain Games", puts it: "We graduated from genes, now we're trading in memes."
Memes are building blocks of culture, invisible but very real DNA of human society. These information carrier units spread from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, writing or other imitation, and inhabit the neurons of people's brains (Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene").
Memes are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution: self-replication, mutation, competition and inheritance. But now information propagates via memes millions of times faster than via genes.
Ever since the dawn of the civilized societies we have witnessed cross pollination of new ideas, trends, social styles and the phenomena of word of mouth. In our modern world ideas, behavior, norms, beliefs, and social media messages often can spread like outbreaks of infectious disease.
The rise of the Internet has led to the subset of the current memetic evolution: 'Social Computing'. In December 2012, the exuberant video "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube clip to be viewed more than one billion times. Thousands of its viewers responded by creating and posting their own variations of the video. "Gangnam Style" is one of the most famous examples of an Internet meme: a piece of digital content that spreads quickly around the web in various iterations and becomes a shared cultural experience.
Up to this point we have seen that the two recognizable forces of Nature and Nurture have made us who we are today. But what about tomorrow? David Pierce, British philosopher, author of "The Hedonistic Imperative", proposes that human beings become “paradise engineers” and combine our utopian dreams with biotechnological and nanotechnological realities. Peter Diamandis, co-founder of the Singularity University, points out that we are shifting now away from evolution by natural selection (Darwinism) to evolution by intelligent direction.
TECHNIUM: DESIGNING A NEW INTELLIGENT SPECIES AND OUR FUTURE SELVES
The convergence of biotechnology, nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, and exponential growth of the available computing power puts us firmly on the path to the intelligence explosion, or as some scientists refer to as the Singularity.
Do biological systems hold monopoly on conscious awareness? Apparently not! If Nature could make its way to our human subjective experience, sooner or later we'll be able to replicate it in our machines. As AI pioneer Marvin Minsky once said: "The Mind is not what the brain is. It is what the brain does".
There's still much to learn about brains, but we already know that they are not magical. One can consider them as information integrated into perceptronium, exceptionally complex arrangement of matter with adaptive functions and emergent properties such as consciousness. Airplanes may not fly like birds, but they are definitely subject to the same forces of lift and propulsion. Similarly, chances are that brains are 100% computational in nature and their functionality can be replicated in machine intelligence.
If consciousness is intrinsically a digital (i.e. discrete) computation and can be expressed as an underlying mathematical pattern, then our AI, more specifically AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), are indeed set to become self-aware at some point. Furthermore, computational biology will be left far behind conscious cybernetic systems, which, in turn, will be left far, far behind infomorphic consciousnesses (Galactic Mind? Universal Mind?) on the evolutionary ladder.
In fact, in few short years, as early as 2029 (Ray Kurzweil, "The Singularity is Near"), once we create human-level artificially intelligent computers and ditch our smartphones and headsets in favor of exocortices, we'll find ourselves in the midst of the 3rd Paradigm in earnest. The preceded biological evolution and human history pale in comparison to what lies ahead!
"The Singularity is an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today - the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity." -Ray Kurzweil, "The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology".CYBERNETICS: THE NEW DIGITAL SYNTELLECT
An enormous amount of digital data is being created every day. The current storage capacity of the Internet is approaching 10^24 bytes and is growing at 30% to 40% per year, showing no signs of slowing down. In the 3.7 billion years since life on Earth began, information in living things (DNA) has reached the equivalent of about 10^37 bytes. Digital information is projected to grow to this size in less than 100 years. That’s an evolutionary eye-blink!
Bio-intelligence and techno-cultural collective intelligence now represent the enabling factors for Artificial Intelligence to come into conscious existence, since there is no other conceivable natural mechanism that could generate digital circuitry out of chemistry.
I consider this evolutionary paradigm shift as existential opportunity for humanity to transcend all conceivable limitations. We are destined to become one Global Mind, the Syntellect, and that would actually constitute the Technological Singularity.
THE MIND'S EVOLUTIONARY LEAP
As Terence McKenna puts it: "What history is, is a 25,000 year transition zone. Before you enter the zone, you're an animal. After you leave the zone, you're a "god""... not quite, rather a demigod, or more specifically an advanced info-being, infomorph.
The fact that Homo sapiens is on the brink of extinction as a biological species is not lamentable since it will be a decades-long, incremental PSEUDO-EXTINCTION, our next evolutionary stage, the merger of man and machine.
Why pseudo-extinction? If we survive the coming intelligence explosion, and I tend to believe that we will (I lay out my argument in the book), then our posthuman descendants, and arguably our future selves (by that time we are supposed to achieve superlongevity), will share common, but transformed, values and ethics, and what's important, "recorded history". Thus, an avatar of any historical personage, say a replica of Albert Einstein, could be created to embody or interact with. So, in a sense, that human would "live forever" within our Syntellect.
In fact, the whole human history can be recreated in its finest details like an interactive database based on available information. As a matter of fact, we may be part of this simulated history right now. we elaborate on probabilities of whether we live in a Matrix-like simulated reality in Part III of the book.
As humans become more machine-like, and machines become more human-like, the biological part of us will be gradually replaced with increasingly more capable non-biological part, and humans will eventually become post-biological super-beings practically indistinguishable from our superintelligent artificial counterparts.
TRANSCENDENCE: EXOCORTEX, MIND-UPLOADING & DIGITAL IMMORTALITY
We'll undergo a massive transformation integrating superintelligent artificial superbrains and interlinking into the Global Syntellect. According to Oxford professor Nick Bostrom, the Singularity will be an era when the entire human-machine civilization will "feel like one nerve".
"I'm virtually certain that mind uploading is possible. We are destined to eventually replace our biological bodies and minds with optimally designed synthetic ones,” says neuroscientist Ken Hayworth. In the book “The Global Brain” another neuroscientist Howard Bloom argues that hyperconnected humans and machines resemble the neurons of the "global brain", and the Internet of Things (IoT) with trillions of sensors around the planet is effectively the nervous system of Earth.
The Singularity era will include both superintelligent AGIs and enhanced humans, i.e. transhumans. The question remains open how long it's going to take to become 100% post-biological beings, posthumans. At any rate, it's going to be a "gradual" (for the sake of the argument) process of merging with AI which will give the Syntellect the unique perspectives of individuals, common values, our wants and ambitions, and the rights of succession.
By any means, posthumans will be our successors, nonetheless, I wouldn't be surprised if non-biological posthumans will be more "human" than any of currently living humans from the ethical, intellectual and socio-psychological perspective, and may still choose to call themselves "humans".
By the same token, we would consider pre-historic cavemen as "not fully human". Although we would share almost identical biological make-up of Homo sapiens species with them, one would argue troglodytes lack techno-culture to make them "truly human".
Just like once life on Earth complexified from one-celled organisms to multi-cellular organisms, we are to become One Global Superorganism, but you will still perceive yourself as an individual! It's an integral part of your unitary subjective experience, i.e consciousness.
In a way, your subjectivity would "snowball" into the Global Mind. You may gradually "upthink" your mind onto the Global Brain cognitive architecture which, with its vast repository of knowledge and instant data sharing capabilities, will become your 'exocortex'.
As a hybrid being you will still have a unique subjective perceptual experience. We're already hybrid thinking beings, anyway. We have two cerebral hemispheres "thinking in unison", as well as our technologically-extended mind, according to Andy Clark"s Extended Mind Hypothesis. All of which makes unique YOU.
In this Part III of the book, which is probably the most important from the theoretical point of view, we discuss at length the problem of AI consciousness and enhanced human subjectivity, the proposed Syntellect Hypothesis, how to create benevolent AI and mitigate existential threats related to this transitional period, and why sooner rather than later, we have to abandon "carbon chauvinism," the mindset of "US vs. THEM".
QUANTUM COMPUTING & AI CONSCIOUSNESS
Besides our genetic code, we are currently trying to get to the core of our own other, perhaps by far more important, programming language, our neural code. We have always perceived ourselves as human beings which is, of course, very practical, but somewhat fragmentary, to say the least. AGI, and consequently Strong AI, by contrast, could have complete access to their own source code - a level of self-awareness presently beyond human capability.
Quantum computing is probably one of the most promising fields of the future alongside with cognitive, deep learning, biological and neural network computing. In classical computers, information is stored as individual bits that can be either a zero or one, while in quantum computing the quantum bits (qubits) can be a zero, a one, and a zero and one at the same time. Quantum computers would eventually perform by far faster and more powerful, massively parallel, computations. We also will be able to tap black-hole physics to further perfection quantum computing.
Enhanced humans will be able to process more than just one or two thoughts at a time. The Syntellect based on cloud quantum computing will allow access to the collective conscious and subconscious intelligence. Before long we could create simulated universes populated by self-aware agents endowed with free will.
Being one of the progenitors of the Syntellect will give you immense superhuman abilities such as, for example, having practically no limits on how many sensations you could take in or thoughts you could put out, or say, experience your expanding creation of the simulated universe in its entirety.
In this part of the book, we dedicate three chapters to the physics of time where we address the flaming questions in philosophy of time: "Is time fundamental or emergent?", "How does time exist, if at all?", "How can we update the current epistemological status of temporal ontology?" Chapter 11 - Digital Presentism: D-Theory of Time - outlines a new theory of time, for to understand our experiential reality and consciousness, we need to understand TIME.
"Having invented the gods, perhaps we can turn into them" -Alan Harrington, "The Immortalist"If we extrapolate the past and current trends in increasing complexity and integration of the self-aware neural networks leading to the Syntellect, we can ultimately envision a superintelligent entity encompassing our entire Universe, creating an infinite number of simulated universes, as well as many other spectacular emergent features.
This picture bears a striking resemblance to the familiar concept of an immortal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent entity. Spiritually inclined rationalists may view this ongoing evolutionary process as one of 'Theogenesis'. An interesting question is whether it has already happened elsewhere.
We are now laying the foundation for the cognitive architecture of the Universal Mind. Many of our achievements in information engineering may persist forever and eventually become parts of the internal architecture of "God".
THE POST-SINGULARITY TRANSCENSION: DIMENSIONS OF THE SIMULATED WORLDS
The generation of cyborg-like transhumans with cloud-based exocortices and innate attachement to the virtual Metaverse (3-D functional successor to the 2-D Internet) will inevitably lead to the next generation of post-biological posthuman info-beings, infomorphs.
The new post-Singularity system will inherit many of today's structures but at the same time will develop new traits beyond our current human comprehension. The ability of future machines and posthumans alike to instantly learn, transfer knowledge and directly share full spectrum experiences with each other will lead to evolution of shared intelligence from relatively isolated individual minds of the pre-Singularity era to the civilizational community of hyperconnected digital minds - Infomorph Commonality.
The overall efficiency of information sharing among infomorphs, elimination of computational redundancy, data storage and processing, among many other advantages over a random collection of unconnected machines or slow biological brains would make the networked design an imperative rather than a matter of taste.
Infomorphs will have no permanent bodies but possess near-perfect information-handling abilities while using the physical world as their shared tool kit. An advanced multividual info-being could "shape-shift", "multi-body-task" and "ghost" anywhere, anytime, and across virtual dimensions. The difference between physical and virtually created realities will not matter any longer.
The similar views are expressed in the TRANSCENSION HYPOTHESIS by John M. Smart who proposes that our posthuman minds will live inside virtual worlds at the nano- to femto-scale, further increasing complexity through S.T.E.M. compression (the compression of Space, Time, Energy and Matter), and turn from outer space to inner space for exploration.
Evolutionary processes in our Universe might lead all advanced civilizations towards the same ultimate destination, one in which we transcend out of our current space-time dimension into virtual worlds of our own design.
That's how our fractal multiverse may actually sprout universes - through intelligent designer virtualities and our beloved Universe is most probably no exception!
The SYNTELLECT HYPOTHESIS builds on the Transcension Hypothesis to account for inner space expansion by creating 'noodimensions', infinite number of simulated worlds and universes with their own physical laws, evolutionary processes, conscious creatures and civilizational minds.
UNIVERSAL EXPANSION OF THE SYNTELLECT
Whereas the level of our posthuman syntelligence may be trillions upon trillions of times more powerful than it is today, nothing will prevent it to expand both in outer space and inner space. Isn't it the nature of intelligence to acquire the ultimate knowledge - everything that can be known?
A number of prominent physicists argue that Technological Singularity is inevitable and the destiny of our Syntellect is to live forever, expand universally and finally reach the networked mind of universal proportions, living conscious Universe.
As Ray Kurzweil writes in his book “The Singularity is near”, “...from there we'll spread our intelligence through the rest of the Universe... and the Universe essentially wakes up”. Or Jason Silva likes to say “We’ll impregnate our Universe with intelligence”.
As the laws of physics dictate, all particles as well as macro objects, including you and me, are wavicles, exhibiting a wave function, consequently, one way or the other, we're destined and, as a civilization, "superposed" to achieve the Technological Singularity, and then move forward towards the Cosmological Singularity, The OMEGA POINT.
The Omega Point, a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which our universe is evolving, was first conceived by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French idealist philosopher and Jesuit priest. It's a logical necessity and culmination point, argues Dr. Frank Tipler, who further developed the concept of Omega Point into a scientific theory. The ultimate destiny of the Universe, according to Tipler, is a multi-billion year expansion, then "controlled" contraction and finally compression of information (space-time, matter and energy) into an infinitely dense point (The Omega Point), leading to the next Big Bang (The Alpha Point in another universe).
THE CHRYSALIS CONJECTURE: SOLUTION TO THE FERMI PARADOX?
"If we ever encounter extraterrestrial intelligence, I believe it is very likely to be post-biological in nature", writes Arizona State's Paul Davies in "The Eerie Silence".
In my book I elaborate on the famous Fermi Paradox (why in the vastness of space, we don't see the signs of intelligent alien life?). At this stage of the post-Singularity Theogenesis, once Infomorph Commonality becomes effectively the fully developed SINGULAR MIND, THE SYNTELLECT - ONLY THEN, according to my hypothesis, we may encounter extraterrestrial (or rather, extradimensional) intelligence that we can relate to as an "individual entity". That's going to be the whole new level of awareness coinciding with this cardinal paradigm shift in evolution.
"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” -Max PlanckThis final Part V of my book is admittedly highly speculative theoretical work. In our fractal, information-based Omniverse (all multiversal structure combined, all that is) one may assume that an infinitely large number of civilizational minds, syntellects, have followed or will follow a path, similar to ours, in their evolutionary processes.
At the highest level of existence and perceptual experience, that we can rightfully call Hyperdimension of Mind, Universal Minds would form some sort of multiversal network of entangled minds, layer after layer ad infinitum. I elaborate on that in my final chapters of the book and finally give you the formulation of the Syntellect Hypothesis in its entirety.*
-by Alex Vikoulov
*The book "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019) by Alex Vikoulov is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other select brick-and-mortar stores, and directly from this website. Video: Extended Book Trailer - The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution
order now! Glossary of Terms
AGI - acronym for Artificial General Intelligence, machine intelligence at or above human level of intelligence; a machine capable of performing any intellectual task that a human being can, "general intelligent action".
Connectome - a comprehensive map of neural connections in the brain, may be thought of as its "wiring diagram". In the context of the book, information contained within an individual brain's architecture. More broadly, a connectome would include the mapping of all neural connections within an organism's nervous system.
Computational Biology - all biological organisms combined, all biological life possessing information-processing capabilities. In the book, the term is used in this context, and not to be confused with data analytics or mathematical modeling.
Ecstadelic - adj. ecstasy-inducing, stimulating ecstatic state of being, exhilarating to the point of psychedelic rapture; n. Tool, technology of ecstasy.
Exocortex - a hypothetical artificial external information processing system that would augment a brain's biological high-level cognitive processes. An individual's exocortex would be composed of external memory modules, processors, IO devices, and software systems that would interact with, and augment a person's biological brain. Typically this interaction is described as being conducted through a direct brain-computer interface, making these extensions functionally part of the individual's mind, "synthetic neocortex".
Information - In physics, information refers generally to the information that is contained in a physical system. Its usage in quantum mechanics (i.e. quantum information) is important, for example in the concept of quantum entanglement to describe effectively direct or causal relationships between apparently distinct or spatially separated particles. Information itself may be loosely defined as "that which can distinguish one thing from another". The information embodied by a thing can thus be said to be the identity of the particular thing itself, that is, all of its properties, all that makes it distinct from other (real or potential) things.
Infomorph - substrate independent digital mind, advanced information entity, based on networked intelligence, info-being capable to instantly share knowledge and experiences within the global neural network, the Syntellect.
Multiverse - the hypothetical set of finite or infinite possible universes, including the universe in which we live. Togerher, these universes comprise everything that exists, the entirety of space, time, matter, energy and the physical laws and constants that desciribe them. The various universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes" or " alternate universes."
Omniverse - our Multiverse as the whole, all-inclusive multiversal structure, inflationary multiverse + quantum multiverse, all that is.
Noodimensions - "Dimensions of Mind" (Greek noo, mind + dimensions), virtually created mind-space, or inner space, that represents simulated universes with their own physical laws, evolutionary processes and intelligent life.
Noogenesis - "The Origin of Mind", (Greek noo, mind +genesis, origin), the emergence and evolution of intelligence.
Syntellect - (Greek syn, with, together + intellect) the unified mind of civilization that integrates all individual natural and artificial minds through the mediation and accumulative effects of informational networks.
Technium - the greater, global, massively interconnected system of technology vibrating around us, technosphere, technological infrastructure ("What Technology Wants" by Kevin Kelly, 2010).
Theogenesis - (Greek theo, god + genesis, origin, birth) "The Birth of God", the emergence and evolution of a divine entity.
Tags: syntellect, syntellect hypothesis, evolutionary paradigm, evolution, mind's evolution, evolution of consciousness, friendly AI, benevolent AI, artificial general intelligence, AGI, ASI, strong AI, artificial consciousness, AI, artificial intelligence, superintelligence, integrated intelligence, intelligence explosion, connectome, genome, consciousness, consciousness definition, computational biology, computational hypothesis, memetics, genetics, neuroscience, machine intelligence, advanced consciousness, substrate independent mind, infomorph, infomorph commonality, singularity, technological singularity, AI research, digital mind, global mind, universal mind, Ray Kurzweil, Nick Bostrom, John Wheeler, Robert Lanza, Max Tegmark, David Eagleman, Carl Sagan, Jason Silva, David Pierce, Peter Diamandis, Guilio Tononi, Christof Koch, John Hagelin, Pierre de Chardin, Frank Tipler, John Smart, Andy Clark, Alan Harrington, William James, Peter Watts, Paul Davies, Max Planck, hedonistic imperative, machine self-awareness, noogenesis, theogenesis, nooshere, noodimensions, technosphere, darwinism, natural selection, paradise engineering, cognitive architecture, Virtual Reality, Homo Sapiens, Homo Habilis, pseudo-extinction, existential opportunity, existential threat, Omega Point, Alpha Point
*Image Credits: Ecstadelic Media #ecstadelic
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, evolutionary extrapolist, transhumanist singularitarian, digital philosopher, Internet entrepreneur, founder of Ecstadelic Media, writer, painter and media artist. Russian-born, immigrated to the United States in 1994. Graduated in 1999 from Armstrong University. Currently resides in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
December 12, 2018
Psychedelic Renaissance and Introduction of Ecstadelics
by Alex Vikoulov 
"Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”
-Terence McKenna
As shortcuts to spiritual and transcendent experiences, psychedelics played an important role in human evolution and galvanized pre-historic ritualistic cultures. In modern times, banning psychedelic drugs has proven to be counterproductive. Just as banning sexual activity does not stop sexual desire, outlawing psychedelic drugs does nothing to suppress the innate human urge for transcendental experiences. Besides, prohibition rarely works as we saw with alcohol or marijuana. Despite their classification and the legal hurdles around working with Schedule I substances in the U.S., psychedelics have undergone something of a renaissance among researchers, and for good reason.
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and DMT have a profound impact on human consciousness, particularly perception. They are closely associated with altered states of consciousness and characterized by their consciousness-expanding effects. Studies indicate that LSD can promote neuroplasticity by reducing functional connections between brain regions governing cognitive processes and increases connectivity in brain networks related to sensory functions. In some cases, LSD is reported to help repair the brain’s circuitry and functionality. Other studies show that psilocybin, contained in “magic mushrooms,” can induce a psychedelic experience by enacting a hyperconnected brain. Psilocybin seems to completely disrupt the normal communication networks in the brain, by connecting brain regions that do not normally communicate with each other. In addition to the well-known vivid hallucinations that these drugs can cause, they can have more long-lasting therapeutic effects. MDMA, or ‘ecstasy’, is known to trigger prosocial behavior. The loss of inhibition leads to increased levels of activity in the brain and can result in an increased synchronization between different cognitive processes.
People have been willing to alter their perceptions of reality for as long as there have been people, and now, the newest and oldest tools to explore ways for self-transcendence are coming together: Biohacking is on the rise and psychedelics are now oftentimes used to enhance experience in virtual reality. As early as 2030s, humans will be moving away from the biological towards increasingly non-biological substrate, so we’ll see the corresponding shift away from the traditional neuropharmacological inducers towards IT-based esctadelics. The term ‘ecstadelics’ includes a broad variety of futuristic psychedelic technologies, or simply “tools of ecstasy,” such as ultra-realistic artificially created realities, essentially aimed to recreate a desired psychedelic effect of LSD or DMT, or any other ecstatic state, and variations thereof yet to be discovered. Needless to say, that this type of “digital drugs” will be much more controllable, quantifiable and duplicable.
Ecstadelics are supposed to be safer, too -- the practice that could sidestep excessively altering brain chemistry and exercise more control over a “digital trip.” You can also share your experience in real-time with a bunch of other psychonauts, or do anything that can be done with a multimedia file. Effectively creating VR or augmented virtuality from within the human nervous system via optogenetics and nanotech will ultimately help bypass the “wireheads” scenario, depicted in cyberpunk genre -- no wires, no invasive electrode implants, no drilling of the cranium required.
In a new regime of cyber-freedom, the use of psychedelics and ecstadelics should be deemed our birthright to cognitive liberty, whether they are consumed for medicinal, therapeutic or recreational purposes. To paraphrase McKenna, the drugs of the future will be information technology in addition to or instead of neuropharmacology, the difference between the two, at least for the time being, is that you can swallow one but you can’t swallow the other. In fact, our brightest minds (in Silicon Valley and elsewhere) are working to fix that -- this ecstadelic future, "cyber-bliss engineering," is just over the horizon.
-by Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Adapted from the chapter on psychedelics/ecstadelics in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution." This book is a real cognitive ecstadelic!
Order Now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: Psychedelics, information processing, Terence McKenna,spiritual experience, transcendent experiences, human evolution, psychedelic drugs, marijuana, LSD, DMT, consciousness-expanding effects, Psilocybin, MDMA, ecstasy, biohacking, virtual reality, neuropharmacological inducers, esctadelics, psychedelic technologies, tools of ecstasy, ecstatic state, digital drugs, digital trip, psychonauts, optogenetics, nanotech, wireheads, cyberpunk genre, cyber-freedom, cognitive liberty, information technology, neuropharmacology, Silicon Valley, ecstadelic future, cyber-bliss engineering
* Image Credit: Billion Photos/Creative Commons
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, singularitarian transhumanist, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, essayist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
"Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”
-Terence McKenna
As shortcuts to spiritual and transcendent experiences, psychedelics played an important role in human evolution and galvanized pre-historic ritualistic cultures. In modern times, banning psychedelic drugs has proven to be counterproductive. Just as banning sexual activity does not stop sexual desire, outlawing psychedelic drugs does nothing to suppress the innate human urge for transcendental experiences. Besides, prohibition rarely works as we saw with alcohol or marijuana. Despite their classification and the legal hurdles around working with Schedule I substances in the U.S., psychedelics have undergone something of a renaissance among researchers, and for good reason.
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and DMT have a profound impact on human consciousness, particularly perception. They are closely associated with altered states of consciousness and characterized by their consciousness-expanding effects. Studies indicate that LSD can promote neuroplasticity by reducing functional connections between brain regions governing cognitive processes and increases connectivity in brain networks related to sensory functions. In some cases, LSD is reported to help repair the brain’s circuitry and functionality. Other studies show that psilocybin, contained in “magic mushrooms,” can induce a psychedelic experience by enacting a hyperconnected brain. Psilocybin seems to completely disrupt the normal communication networks in the brain, by connecting brain regions that do not normally communicate with each other. In addition to the well-known vivid hallucinations that these drugs can cause, they can have more long-lasting therapeutic effects. MDMA, or ‘ecstasy’, is known to trigger prosocial behavior. The loss of inhibition leads to increased levels of activity in the brain and can result in an increased synchronization between different cognitive processes.
People have been willing to alter their perceptions of reality for as long as there have been people, and now, the newest and oldest tools to explore ways for self-transcendence are coming together: Biohacking is on the rise and psychedelics are now oftentimes used to enhance experience in virtual reality. As early as 2030s, humans will be moving away from the biological towards increasingly non-biological substrate, so we’ll see the corresponding shift away from the traditional neuropharmacological inducers towards IT-based esctadelics. The term ‘ecstadelics’ includes a broad variety of futuristic psychedelic technologies, or simply “tools of ecstasy,” such as ultra-realistic artificially created realities, essentially aimed to recreate a desired psychedelic effect of LSD or DMT, or any other ecstatic state, and variations thereof yet to be discovered. Needless to say, that this type of “digital drugs” will be much more controllable, quantifiable and duplicable.
Ecstadelics are supposed to be safer, too -- the practice that could sidestep excessively altering brain chemistry and exercise more control over a “digital trip.” You can also share your experience in real-time with a bunch of other psychonauts, or do anything that can be done with a multimedia file. Effectively creating VR or augmented virtuality from within the human nervous system via optogenetics and nanotech will ultimately help bypass the “wireheads” scenario, depicted in cyberpunk genre -- no wires, no invasive electrode implants, no drilling of the cranium required.
In a new regime of cyber-freedom, the use of psychedelics and ecstadelics should be deemed our birthright to cognitive liberty, whether they are consumed for medicinal, therapeutic or recreational purposes. To paraphrase McKenna, the drugs of the future will be information technology in addition to or instead of neuropharmacology, the difference between the two, at least for the time being, is that you can swallow one but you can’t swallow the other. In fact, our brightest minds (in Silicon Valley and elsewhere) are working to fix that -- this ecstadelic future, "cyber-bliss engineering," is just over the horizon.
-by Alex Vikoulov
P.S. Adapted from the chapter on psychedelics/ecstadelics in my new book “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution." This book is a real cognitive ecstadelic!
Order Now! *To buy the book on Amazon, please follow the link here.
Tags: Psychedelics, information processing, Terence McKenna,spiritual experience, transcendent experiences, human evolution, psychedelic drugs, marijuana, LSD, DMT, consciousness-expanding effects, Psilocybin, MDMA, ecstasy, biohacking, virtual reality, neuropharmacological inducers, esctadelics, psychedelic technologies, tools of ecstasy, ecstatic state, digital drugs, digital trip, psychonauts, optogenetics, nanotech, wireheads, cyberpunk genre, cyber-freedom, cognitive liberty, information technology, neuropharmacology, Silicon Valley, ecstadelic future, cyber-bliss engineering
* Image Credit: Billion Photos/Creative Commons
About the Author:
Alex Vikoulov is a futurist, neo-transcendentalist, singularitarian transhumanist, evolutionary extrapolist, cosmist, digital philosopher, founder of Ecstadelic Media, painter, media artist, essayist, co-author of "Is Reality a Simulation?" (2018), author of "The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind's Evolution" (2019). Lives in Burlingame, California (San Francisco Bay Area).
