The future is scary as hell, and here's why!

[Silentsnipe1212]

then u have an army of master chiefs running around lol that would be cool.

[Deleted]

Read up on "Mutual assured destruction" and now image the two countries with the largest number of nuclear weapons believed in this. Welcome to the cold war.

[Darios]

As long as I get a hoverboard, I'll be satisfied.

[zorkuus]

The future is scary because there's still no flying cars in sight. They promised back in the 80's that we'd have them by now.

[hayharut]

lol.... self aware robots

[Deleted]

wait till the rainbow hypnotizes all of humankind, and make them believe they are lemmings, thus everyone commits suicide with dry-brick-bagel.

[cubby]

I've never understood why we are constantly searching for smarter and smarter computers. More capable sure, but sliding over into the realm of sentience is scarier than hell. All of the nuts-o-nerd scientists must have seen at least one of the terminator movies or the series.

In what universe do they live in do self aware computers not destroy the moment they can? I mean, look how dumb we are. We created a new species that is smarter and tougher than we are.

[Silentsnipe1212]

I've never understood why we are constantly searching for smarter and smarter computers. More capable sure, but sliding over into the realm of sentience is scarier than hell. All of the nuts-o-nerd scientists must have seen at least one of the terminator movies or the series.

In what universe do they live in do self aware computers not destroy the moment they can? I mean, look how dumb we are. We created a new species that is smarter and tougher than we are.

that could turn in to some xenogears shit lol. an epic computer created by humans that eventually becomes self aware and destroys everything. hopefully if it does happen ill be dead before then.

[cubby]

However, sentience isn't a bad thing. Am i supposed to be worried about these things? Am i supposed to think that just because we built the tech, and "abused" it, that we should be afraid of it? You know people used to be terrified of Wolves, Dogs, Lions, Tigers, and other "wild animals". The difference this time around is that the analysis was done beforehand when we built the technology.

Wolves, Dogs, Lions, and Tigers don't initiate a nuclear holocaust. Or survive it.

Sure, the flesh eating bot in the OP can "replicate" itself... but only if the parts are placed in front of it.

And sentience will allow it to go find those parts. I'm not being melodramatic here, and I sympathize with your feelings that none of us here will be alive when this happens. But rest assured, robots will become their own race. At some point in the relatively near future.

If anything, it'll be an arms race between Humanity, and the Robots. Humanity will win. Know why? Our exoskeletons will become more advanced, while we simply stop developing the software for the robots to update themselves, not to mention the ability to remotly sabotage the code of the robots, in the same way bacteria and virus' can infect and destroy our cells.

Sentience means they'll do their own updates and software patches. Oh, and they won't let Bill Gates run their operating program. They will probably clone him just so they can torture him (well, his clone at least). And be assured we will lose ANY arms race against a sentience mechanical species.

[Darios]

Threat: Mobile Armor
Type: Weapon
Fear factor: ranges from awesome to WMD
Probability: Highly Probable

For years the US R 'n D has been attempting to create a bipedal or quadrupedal combat machine. This idea has come to fruition withe the army's latest line of robots, which resemble headless animals and are used for transport purposes. Many private coorporations have looked beyond this and have begun to develop larger, piloted versions intended as a stand in for tanks. How long will it be until we see these machines take over as the rulers of the battlefield? Only time will tell.

[cubby]

Hope you don't mind the line-by-line. Love the discussion btw.

Yes, but look these days. People don't fear them to the same extent. We're fascinated by them and appreciate their elegance. Some even befriend them. Can we say that no one will be able to befriend a true sentient robot should such a being ever come to be?

I can very easily see us befriending sentient robots and living in harmony with them. I can also see us getting very jealous of their abilities and wanting them to be subservient to us. And when they don't want that anymore, when they realize they are "superior" in many ways, that's where the conflict will come from. The human condition is one of "alpha" - there is no place on earth where we are not the dominant species - even if we lose a "battle" from time to time. The conflict will happen.

They say a cockroach can survive nuclear fallout. It can't, however, survive a size 7 Trainer. Would you look at that -- A human defeated something with much higher tolerances, by doing something completely natural.

A sentient robot can survive both. Humans cannot. At some point down the very long line of human evolution (if we make it that far) we will be taking over the "natural" order of things - creating of very own planets if necessary (ala Dyson Sphere).

Self-generating software isn't such a difficult task. Self-generating software that's smart and adaptive.... much more difficult.

I'm not sure either of us is qualified to debate this specific topic. I know I'm not.

People believing it'll happen and be a true takeover watch too many movies. We've been brought up in a society where it's "cool" to believe robots will take over and destroy us all for our insolence. We've been taught that technology will be smarter than us one day. What we've not been taught is that said technology is created by the smartest people in the world, but will be destroyed by the "dumbest" people on the planet.

These ideas definitely come from movies and books. However, I disagree that it's "cool". It simply is. We are really the first generation that has grown up with the idea of creating a sentience species. Our parents and their parents had scify, but nothing like The Matrix or the Terminator series. And while the "plots" may seem a little out there, the base technology for the reasoning behind those movies already exists. We have computers that are smarter than us. We have computers and robots that can think for themselves. We have a global wifi communication system in which we can send and receive software.

The human body is one of the most flawless creations. It protects and repairs itself. It fuels itself with only the tinyest amount of food/fuel. It's even able to generate chemicals that provide life support in times of urgency (Adrenaline for example). Yes, we experience disease, and injury, but wouldn't you know that in the majority of people, the bodies self defenses kick in EXACTLY where it's needed with EXACT measured amounts of the correct chemicals. It can repair broken bones without drawing energy from the main sources, almost passive healing.

You can say that a robot could weld itself. This, however, requires an excess of external materials to be able to handle the repair. The human body... given enough time and support from the bodies internal network of nerves, veins, and chemical "generators" (and perhaps support from limbs), can repair any wound, with the exceptions of decapitation and grievous wounding of the core muscles and organs. All of this is done from within the body, from chemicals generated BY the body. Robots can't generate their own metals to repair massive holes in their outer shells, let alone internal repairs. Moreover, it requires massive amounts of energy to do even basic repair on any sort of robot, while our bodies, as mentioned, don't draw energy from the main sources and instead use the chemicals our body generates.

But we can still be decimated by the smallest cut, the slightest scratch. Infection was the number one killer before technology. So if we are to truly survive in a world where we can be injured, humans will still need some form of external technology. And all the sources of replenishment for the human body (i.e. water/food) come from outside the human body. We are not self-sustaining. Nor is any sentient robot. We do not have an advantage over them in this respect.

[Salarius]

Soylent green is people! It's people!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thorzon]

(Just something I think about sometimes.)

We all know that the future of gaming is most likely going to end up in virtual reality. While, of course, this is extremely awesome, I am very scared that someday in the future, I will get some virus or something that hijacks my game and redirects me into a horror situation and I won't be able to escape. I get scared by stuff like that really easily. I can't even stand to watch horror movie commercials when they come up on TV...

/Shudder

[Kalyyn]

Alright, everybody! Time for some more scary shit!

Type: Organism
Name: Biodesign
Fear factor: Why, god, why?
Probability: Fairly high

If the future is scary as hell, you can blame DARPA. Not content with a semi-sentient mechanical species designed to kill, they have picked up a new project: Biodesign. Biodesign will ensure that America is still the most terrifying force in the world, long after the actual country has crumbled (likely around the same time they cancel the Simpsons (Americans will get that)). So what could this insidious organism possibly be?

Well, not too long ago, one of DARPA's leading scientists said "Hey, God! Screw you! Screw you, and screw Charles Darwin!". He then set out designing an organism that could evolve on command. Thats right, zap it with a few lines of code, and it can be anything from a super-virus to a Rancor (America has a slight Jedi problem).
So what if it falls into enemy hands? Well, it would probably kill them in the most gruesome way possible. My guess? Giant-cougar mauling. You see, not only is DARPA intent on making an affront to nature, they are making one that is loyal to the United States.

"Of course, Darpa’s got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work — so they’ll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create “tamper proof” cells. Plus, the synthetic organism will be traceable, using some kind of DNA manipulation, “similar to a serial number on a handgun.”

But the Geneva convention outlawed bioweapons, right? Well, yes. Individually, each one of the cells would be considered a war-crime. However, link them together like some sort of living Voltron, and now you've got yourself a dragon or uber-shark, which is completely legal.
Now keep in mind, these things evolve on command. And, of course, knowing DARPA, one of them will say to another, "why don't bats shoot lasers?"
And then the world is screwed.

Shown above: The fall of mankind

[Silentsnipe1212]

yea i just read on wikipedia (if u wanna call it reliable in this case) that the eatr is not meant to consume human remains, but only plant biomass. i still think an armed robot that could reanimate fallen soldiers and have direct command over them like a robotic necromancer would be a badass war machine :P

and kalyyn i dont mean to offend or disrespect in any way but, i think ur just looking at darpa's projects and tweaking the concept slightly to make it seem like theyre creating unstoppable abominations that will eventually rebel and proceed to mercilessly slay every living organism on the planet :P

[Kalyyn]

yea i just read on wikipedia (if u wanna call it reliable in this case) that the eatr is not meant to consume human remains, but only plant biomass. i still think an armed robot that could reanimate fallen soldiers and have direct command over them like a robotic necromancer would be a badass war machine :P

and kalyyn i dont mean to offend or disrespect in any way but, i think ur just looking at darpa's projects and tweaking the concept slightly to make it seem like theyre creating unstoppable abominations that will eventually rebel and proceed to mercilessly slay every living organism on the planet :P

Maybe a little...
No, jk If you'll check my post again, I specified that it was programmed to consume only plant mass (small animals had at one point been considered, but it was deemed impractical and slightly disturbing)
I merely meant that it was physically capable of ingesting human remains. of course it won't, because that's a war crime, but it could.
I'm more trying to point out "what if" scenarios than "what's likely"
Like I said, I simply wish to entertain.

[Carmakazie]

I tend not to worry about all these "apocalyptic"things the government is making or that nature is impending on us. I realize they exist, but i don't want to become a paranoid schizophrenic who doesn't leave their house and thinks everybody is watching them.

The only thing i think is viable as a sort of "doomsday device" is either nuclear war/bio terrorism. Although, the things arent as bad as they were back in the cold war, lots of people still have nukes. all we can hope is that a madman doesnt get his hands on them and wipes out planet back to the stone age. to quote einstein
"I am not sure what weapons World War 3 will be fought with, but i know World War 4 will be fought with sticks and rocks"
This quote still holds true today. Mutually Assured Destruction is pretty much the only outcome of nuclear war.

On the subject of bio terrorism, this could also be extremely dangerous. Since most people are obsessed with taking anti-biotics, using hand sanitizer and never getting dirty, our species is slowly becoming more susceptible to germs. because alot of people are constantly inoculating themselves to bacteria, they are loosing their natural immunity. also, with all these anti-biotic things availible, bactera/virus's are evolving to be resistant to them. is this continues, a Superbug is inevitable. a superbug is a bacteria/virus that is immune to any anti-biotic/anti-viral treatments. However, certain qualities are needed for a superbug to become a huge problem. 1. Easily communicable (Airborne is the most viable) 2. Not to virulent, that means the bug cannot kill you so fast that you don't have a chance to spread it. and 3. has to mutate easily. if the bug isnt able to mutate quickly to become resistant to drug therapy, then it will either be treated or just die out.

Now, in the past there have been a few very nasty virus's out there. Ebola had several outbreaks in Africa. Ebola is especially scary because it essentially makes you bleed out, internally and externally i.e out your eyes, ears, nose, and skin. But, we were lucky because Ebola was extremly virulent and only transmitted through bodily fluids. From exposure to death was around 48 hours, and you literally had to spit in a persons face in order to transmit it. so, the CDC just quarantines the villages that Ebola existed in and just waited for every villager to die. it sucks, but it prevents it from getting to a major population area.

Also, with HIV, that could have also been scary. luckily for us, HIV is only transmitted sexually, so it is hard to catch. they actually traced Patient Zero (first carrier) to a canadian flight attendant who they think is responsible for spreading it from continent to continent. If HIV was airborne, we would all be dead most likely. But, thanks to millions of dollars worth of research, AIDS caused by HIV is no longer a death sentence. the drugs are usually very effective in treating it.

So yea, it sucks how fragile it all is. just have to life our lives and not freak out over every possibility no matter how likely it is.

P.S If you are paranoid about germs, do not take a class in Microbiology, you will end up wearing gloves and a breath mask the rest of your life

[Crownos]

Robots that eat stuff for fuel cool. Would be funny to see it in the woods picking up some magic mushrooms or weed plants. Although I know they wouldn’t react to such things but would be funny if they did :P
I have this image of them in my head going something like this.

"FUUUUCK EATR-2 did you see that shit! I..I..I think I saw a UFO!"

"Duuuuuuude that’s cool man... I ate this weed I saw on the floor and I’m toooootally wasted man...I...I have this sudden urge to eat and eat and eat! You got food on you EATR-1?"

"Yeah maan i got some twigs on my back!"


"Shit EATR-1 thats no twig maaaaan thats a fucking tree!"


"Fuck maaan no wonder I can’t move"


"Anyway dude I want some meat! Grrr need to find me some MEAT maaan!!!"


"Sarge I found the EATR bots 1 and 2 ARRRGHHHHHHHDWUIDHUWIH"


"EATR-2 WTF MAN!? That was the sarge dude! You gonna get us in some deep shit bro”


“Hunger waits for no one maaan thats my new program now.”

[Gorllin]

EATR is giving me nightmares already...
I mean, a semi-sentient robot that eats plants and creates more of itself. And its sole purpose is to kill? Why?!?

[Zeta333]

I would think to kill would be the reason.