REFERENCE: Borg is a fictional high-tech pseudo-race of cyborgs in the Star Trek universe.
In movies, the fusion of man and machine is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. In real life, however, there is a whole movement seeking to see this synthesis down to its logical and biological embodiment, which they promise will be overwhelming. This is called transhumanism.
Transhumanism is the topic of the final, must-read two-part series by Dr. Glenn Sunshine on BreakPoint.org.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil, who became popular after his 2005 book Singularity Nearby, believes that advances in computing will ultimately allow machines to match and then surpass the information-processing capabilities of the human brain.
Parallel to this, technologies such as positron emission and magnetic resonance imaging will allow us to "reconstruct" the human brain. While this may sound like science fiction, Kurzweil insists that it is inevitable as "science fact." In the end, he says, our brains are a hierarchy of complex systems, but "you can handle it."
As our computing power increases, "reverse engineering" of the human brain will presumably allow the human brain to be "loaded" into a computer. "Loading" our brain will lead to the emergence of neural implants that supposedly "expand" our natural abilities. Over time, this “enlargement” blurs the line between natural and synthetic, until any distinction becomes meaningless.
Of course, Kurzweil's script can only be taken on faith. The transhumanist faith is based on a purely materialistic worldview. As Glenn Sunshine writes, materialism “assumes that matter and energy are all that exists. Thus, our mind is a product of our brain, which is nothing more than a "very complex computer." In such a world, it only makes sense that we can eventually create machines capable of doing everything that the human brain can do, and maybe even more.
If, as materialism suggests and Kurzweil predicts, there is "no significant difference between our brains and computers, then we should be able to create interfaces between our brains and a superintelligent computer network, allowing us to immediately access all information."
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However, as Glenn reminds us, this is just speculation. Not to mention the fact that such a worldview forces us to consider human consciousness - awareness of ourselves and the world around us - as a kind of illusion, because, as physicist Adam Frank wrote, it cannot explain consciousness or even nature.
In computer terms, there is no software for the materialist. There is only hardware. It's like answering the question "What is a MacBook?" - listing the components such as the processor and storage, but completely ignoring its operating system.
By the way, remove the operating system from your computer and see how well it works. Hint: J won't work at all
Although transhumanism is primarily science fiction, a lot of money is being invested to make it a science fact. For example, this week alone, Microsoft has invested about a billion dollars in one of Elon Musk's transhumanist projects.
This is another reason for all of us to understand the worldview of transhumanism - before resistance becomes useless.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.
