the posthuman christian?

[Paul M Davis]

"Hudpad" <hud...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:p5_Xa.12039$mZ6....@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> Religion is touched upon at the end of the article. It raises
questions -- how
> do we define the image of God if that's the template upon which we're
created?
> Might a reasoning, compassionate machine choose to become Christian? Is
it
> proper to proselytize to it?

Yes, but be sure to dry it out thoroughly after baptism.

I'm not sure about communion, but I'd imagine that anointing with oil would
become a popular ritual.

>

[BHZellner]

> People will want to enhance their physical and
> mental abilities with genetic engineering and
> mechanical implants as those technologies become
> available.

Well, at my age most of my teeth are artificial,
and I have a steel-and-teflon hip joint.

I can see without my glasses, but I see a lot better
with them. I can function without Viagra, but I
function a lot better with it.

As to mental abilities, I have trouble remembering
the day of the week without my trusty computer.

Is there something wrong with all that?

Ben

[Bob Crowley]

bhze...@aol.com (BHZellner) wrote in message news:<NwiYa.16742$mZ6....@nwrdny02.gnilink.net>...

At what point in the digital subconscious of the computer should we
insert a religious impulse ...
00110011110000111000110100010000000011interrupt00interrupt00001001000110?

I personally think, and I will be laughed out of court on this one,
that we will find out we have "souls" when we first try to quantum
teleport a human being, or even animal for that matter. The body will
be teleported and arrive quite dead due to an oversight. It will be a
space tragedy without an explosion.

Supposedly we will never learn to teleport, but I dare to think we
will. If God wants us to explore space, and I believe He does, He
will have built into the physical laws of the universe a method to do
so. This won't go down well with Biblical Fundamentalists, but I
believe we will one day "prove" we have a soul, and that will explain
where the religious impulse comes from.

Machines on the other hand will always be machines, no matter how
intelligent (and they will become extremely intelligent, of that I
have no doubt .. in fact robotics and artificial intelligence will be
absolute necessities to cope with universal civilisation).

Already there are experiments which allow the remote direction of
robot arms via electrode bands around wearers' heads.

Bob Crowley.