Spivack theorizes on Humans becoming more Specialized, like Ants
October 25 2008 / by John Heylin
Category: Social Issues Year: Beyond Rating: 5 Hot
Nova Spivack gave an interesting presentation on differing levels of intelligence and the Singularity. But what caught my attention was his scenario where humans evolve into specialized groups in order to make the whole work better.
If you look at nature, you see groups like bees or ants having specialized tasks that they’re designed for. Ring any bells?
And no, I’m not that clever, Spivack himself made the Borg reference.
The idea of specialized humans is sometimes hard for people to talk about. In order to be “PC” people constantly say all people have the same ability, contrary to evidence otherwise in both intelligence and physical ability. Are we going to face this fact and have specialized groups?
Most people see the Singularity as an event in the future where life will be a lot better, interesting to think that your future perfect life may include doing one task very well over and over again.
Comment Thread (3 Responses)
-
God I hope not. That sounds more like a dystopia. I’ve always saw The Borg as a fate humanity that could very indeed face but I thought that Star Trek was trying to warn us that was NOT what humans should become. We are not bees, or ants or “drones.” Yuck.
Posted by: Covus October 25, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
When I was a kid my dad, who lived through World War II in Eastern Europe, likened humans to insects. “We are all just ants,” he would say. Having seen so much death and social turmoil, he as referring to the macro dynamics that seem so non-sensical from a subjective human POV. Obviously biased by this experience during my critical periods, I don’t think imposing a collective structure onto the definition of humanity is a bad thing, but it does rankle our subjective sense of individualism.
Posted by: Alvis Brigis October 25, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
@Alvis – Sure collectivism ensures our survival but to reduce us to ants is to remove what I believe is the essence of humanity. We want more power over reality but not to the point where we lose the sense of self.
Without this individualistic spirit, we wouldn’t have what beauty is in the world. Art, music, movies, Shakespeare, Bach, Einstein. They were all individuals. Boil down humanity into the Borg and it doesn’t matter if we exist or not – we would be dead, in my point of view.
Posted by: Covus October 25, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend