10 posthuman beings who could inherit the Earth

People in the modern form exist on planet Earth for a long time already and feel very confident. However, the moment is approaching, which is worth thinking about, that sooner or later people will have to pass the baton to someone else - perhaps even to those whom they themselves will create. What posthuman civilization is most likely to dominate the Earth? What reasonable species can humanity replace?

Advanced animals

The idea of promoting animals to the level of human intelligence is already quite old - it is worth remembering only the "Island of Dr. Moreau" by Herbert Wells. Some represent advanced animals in the future as an oppressed class that can raise an uprising to fight against its oppressors, others believe that humans and advanced animals will develop further side by side. Some theorists believe that for people to promote animals to their intellectual level, as soon as the means and opportunities appear for this, it is a real moral imperative. However, there are serious doubts that lie in many points, up to the characteristics of some species - for example, the aggressiveness of chimpanzees or the tendency of dolphins to rape.

Borgi

The universe of the "Star Trek" presented to the public of the borgs - the race of cyborgs, which seeks to unite all living species in the universe into a single collective mind. Many believe that this is far from the best solution, but there are those who support this idea. These people believe that the image of the borgs as unemotional cold creatures is pure propaganda, and a step to the side of collective intelligence can mean approaching the happiness and freedom of individuals as part of the Roy. And indeed, because now people are connected by an Internet network, and communicate among themselves to be closer as a single species, that is, it is already a step towards collective intelligence.

Genetic caste

Scientist Francis Fukuyama believes that transhumanism is one of the most dangerous ideas of our time. An attempt to improve the basic humanity of people, in his opinion, is a fundamentally dangerous undertaking. He calls this factor X, since transhumanism can not be reduced solely to moral choice, consciousness, emotions, and so on, is the totality of all these ideas. And the development of genetically modified people will be the beginning of the end to liberal ideas of the equality of all people. Access to genetic technologies will lead to the ascent of genetic castes and the destruction or enslavement of mankind.

Gray Slime

In 1986, engineer Eric Drexler expressed his fears about the possibility of a nanotechnological uprising against humanity. While he described many of the potential benefits of nanotechnology, such as the destruction of cancer cells and the repair of DNA chains, he also feared that self-replicating droids the size of a molecule could displace all other plant species and even microorganisms, completely occupying the ecological niche of the Earth. This is a scenario that was called "gray slime" or "global ecophagy".

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a subset of computer science devoted to the creation of machines capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. In total, there are two types of AI: narrow-focused, soft and weak intelligence, as well as a general, strong intellect. Soft AI is an analog of human intelligence, but it does not attempt to copy it completely. Most often, such AI is focused on working with large volumes of information, which allows him to cope with tasks such as playing chess, accepting an order, indicating directions. However, the result in this case is achieved by ways that are far from the way people think. Accordingly, the greatest danger is a strong AI, which can take the place of people in the future.

Wires in the head

Wirehead is a term that science fiction refers to people who stimulate their brain with the help of an electric current. For the first time this concept appeared in the seventies in the works of Larry Niven, after which it became extremely common in cyberpunk. These ideas most likely appeared in the fifties, when James Olds used electrodes to stimulate the rat brain. The rats ignored food and sleep, as they enjoyed the stimulation of the corresponding areas of the brain, after which they died of hunger and lack of sleep, unable to resist the electrodes.

Infomorfs

In 1991, Charles Platt published Silicon Mind, a book about the quest for immortality. And these searches involve the transfer of human consciousness to computers, which leads to the appearance of entities called infomorfs. In 1996, the Russian theoretician in the field of artificial intelligence Alexander Chislenko borrowed this term to describe a theoretical entity based on distributed intelligence. Such networked intelligence can share knowledge and experience much more quickly and simply than people. And this, in turn, will lead to serious changes in the concepts of self-identification and personality.

Transgenic people

Transgenic animals are those animals by which a foreign gene has been intentionally introduced. This technology allowed to create a luminous mouse and color-changing fish. Also, this technology was used in attempts to restore mammoths to life, and at the moment there is a serious debate about the use of transgenic primates for studying human diseases and conditions. Naturally, there is a concept about transgenic people who will benefit from genes borrowed from other creatures. Many believe that permutation of permutation for humans will allow mankind to borrow from animals many abilities, but there are also serious threats.

Cyborgs

For the first time the word "cyborg" was used in scientific works of 1960. In this work, it was a question of the possibility of increasing the unconscious self-regulation of various managerial functions through various means, including chemical and physical ones. This would allow people to survive better in different conditions with the ultimate goal of successful space exploration. Later this term began to be used in relation to patients who use prostheses to emphasize how much modern humanity has become dependent on high technology. Well, now many people think that people can turn into cyborgs, because they have an unquenchable thirst to become better, and with the increasing availability of high technologies, replacing the aging body with perpetual prostheses will be the main goal.

Multiple types of people

Speciation is a process in which several new species are formed from a single species of ancestors. Already in 1930, in his book, Olaf Stapleton described the rise and fall of eighteen new species of people and the final migration from the Earth to Venus. This was followed by other similar concepts, including the one in which mankind will fall after two hundred years of genetic engineering. There is a scenario in which some people manage to escape from Earth to return to it a few billion years later and discover that humanity has not died, but has ramified and evolved into many similar but different forms.