|
PROJECT MIND
The Conscious Conquest of Man & Matter
Through Accelerated
Thought
by David S. Devor (T. Kun)
Summary of CHAPTER 4:
False Bases of Hope
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled
to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing
was gained under the sun. (Eccl. 2:11) [page 31]
While it is true that science, the arts, religion and philosophy, capitalism,
socialism, communism, ethical humanism, and a host of other isms, each
in their own way may have contributed to the awareness of certain individuals
and perhaps may have even improved the living conditions of segments of
the general population, humanity as a whole seems no closer today, and
in some respects farther than ever before, from achieving what is, or should
be, its true objectives of harmony, freedom from want and hunger, and world
peace. [page 31]
Human history stands as an indelible reminder of the failure of sometimes
good ideas to penetrate the human heart. The precepts of major religions,
for example, have been articles of faith for centuries, yet the benefits
of religion pale in the shadow of the horrors of wars fought in their names.
[page 31]
. . . technology has raised standards of living and relieved us of some
of the drudgery of laborious, repetitive work. . . . Some trust that (short-sighted)
"technological assessment" will find a way to curb technology's worst excesses.
Some vainly hope that the horror of our situation alone may provoke a lifesaving,
worldwide "consciousness" revolution. [page 32]
. . . today's visionaries and prophets of transformation are still far
too vague. [page 33]
Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends
of the earth your possessions. (Psalms 2:8)96 [page 34]
The conquest of matter must begin with an act of mind. "Mind over matter"
is more than just a phrase. It implies that matter, by the very nature
of things, must submit to the intelligence of a mind capable of manipulating,
forming, transforming, transcending and eventually understanding it. Ultimately,
through "mind" we shall be able to merge with matter in all its phases.
[page 34]
. . . according to many religious cosmologies (and physics is ever gravitating
towards the Big Bang theory), all the matter in the universe once fit neatly
into a space so small that it could be called dimensionless--infinitely
smaller than our own bodies. . . . Remember that man, not matter, has the
spiritual prerogative of free will. The matter of the universe is at our
disposition; we need only learn its secrets. [page 35]
The question of "matter versus spirit" is one that has ever dominated
theology, philosophy, spirituality and, more recently, physics. [page 35]
One could always speculate that, given enough time, resources and energy
(perhaps from solar energy, fusion or even "zero point" energy) to pursue
our present course, we might eventually have found how to transform anything
into anything. [page 36]
The hope and promise of universal prosperity and well-being originally
held out by modern science and technology is materializing too slowly and
with too many hitches and complications. . . . Technical progress--our
growing mastery of matter--is happening in a very lopsided manner, more
often than not benefiting some sectors of humanity at the expense of others.
Prosperity in one part of the world unwittingly tends to cause hardship
elsewhere. [page 37]
. . . Drexler, in his Engines of Creation, describes how universal abundance
could come about. He convincingly speaks of nanotechnology, nanocomputers,
molecular engineering, nanomachinery, gene synthesis machines, cell synthesis
machines, cell repair machines, assemblers, replicators, etc. He lovingly
calls these "engines of abundance" and deeply regrets their delay. He easily
envisages molecular-sized nanomachinery supported by nanocomputers manufacturing
or "growing" for you, before your eyes, a home or car or steak dinner,
using almost anything including sewage and garbage as raw materials. Furthermore,
bread, fruit, meat and vegetables made in this way will be indistinguishable
from the real things, except that they will contain all the organic nutrients
they should while sparing animal and vegetable life we now destroy so mechanically.
[page 38]
Regardless of what technical means become available, we must realize
that it is the limits of our vision--consciousness--that determine the
risks of abuse and pollution. [page 38]
When one thinks about it, miniaturization--the art of getting equal
or better performance from a smaller package--involves replacing matter
with intelligence or "mind" in the sense that a 1950s room full of tons
of electronic tubes, heavy equipment and miles of wiring (representing
much matter indeed) is today reduced to a chip that will sit comfortably
on the tip of your little finger. That "silicon" chip, seen exclusively
from the perspective of matter, is basically a pinch of common sand. The
rest is intelligence--mind. Just as the restriction of mind by matter occludes
mind, the restriction of matter by mind reveals mind. [page 39]
The intelligence of the chip consists of very special dispositions of
matter, including highly specific material compositions, circuitry and
other complex, functional patterning, all of which could be included under
the term "form." It is this form embedded in the "silicon" of the chip
that constitutes the essence of its intelligence. While the composite substance
of that chip is the best material that could be found for the job until
now, it is inevitable that newer and more "intelligent" materials will
soon replace them (e.g., gallium-arsenide, etc.). With technical progress,
the marriage between form and substance grows more and more intimate, and
the resulting "matter" expresses more intelligence and becomes more lifelike.
[page 39]
In terms of the constraints matter imposes upon us, inventions use this
same principle of economy. They simplify and facilitate existing tasks
and make it possible to address new ones. Technology simplifies life (at
least the physical side of life) by transferring the burden of existential
constraint to the tools with which we contend with matter. [page 39]
"Functional complexity" is form imbedded in matter. We see that as matter
becomes more intelligent, the form that it embodies becomes more intricately
structured. As matter and the form contained within it become ever more
compatible and more perfectly mated, they eventually become indistinguishable
from one another until we can no longer discern where one ends and where
the other begins. As intelligence becomes manifest, the aspect of matter
seems to recede into the background. The perfect union between matter and
form is to be found in the phenomenon of life, and more particularly, human
life. [page 39]
Undoubtedly we will some day learn to measure and quantify intelligence.
[page 40]
Go on to Chapter
5: Creativity & Breakthrough - Conventionality & Distraction
Return to
Book Contents
|