Transhumanism: Man vs Machine

[Leader Bee]

So are you suggesting that we deport androids to distant planets?

[Icefire]

So are you suggesting that we deport androids to distant planets?

 

Not really. But if they felt that they would like to have their own country one with an environment less likely to rust, decompose, or just short-circuit them may be a better solution.

[Sisyphus]

I do think it's entirely plausible and maybe even likely that the main group of colonists of extraterrestrial environments will not be traditional humans. And I also think it's pretty much inevitable that the first artificial persons will face tremendous resistance to being accepted as persons by a majority of the population. However, I doubt that one would be a cause of the other.

[Leader Bee]

In that case there is plenty of desert for them to inhabit. Nice and dry and i'm assuming if they're enveloped in some kind of synthetic skin they'd be failry well protected from sandstorms inteferring with their systems.

 

Much cheaper than packing them off to space and they might actually be able to turn that land arable in time.

[Sisyphus]

Much cheaper than packing them off to space

 

Exactly. You don't go to space in order to leave Earth. It's not like emmigrating to a different country. If there's a moon colony, it will exist for the purpose of there being a moon colony.

[Leader Bee]

Now that we're moving away from the original topic and speaking about how this new form of life would like to create its own culture, do you not think that it is dehumanising to instantly think of ushering them into solitude - basically a barren wasteland where no other humans live? Space, the moon, deserts?

 

After all, the conciousness that is implanted into their artificial brains still contains what was their human conciousness, they still think like a human and we're basically "Sending them to Coventry" A "we don't want you around here" attitude "go live somewhere you can do your own thing and leave us alone" thought pattern.

 

I would assume that a human conciousness would still require the mental stimulation and social interaction that a regular human would need and by deporting them we are taking away what is esentially a human right.

 

The question remains then, do human rights still apply? We have established they are no longer part of the human race from the physical augmentations they have undergone but can we just change how they are treated?

 

Are human rights revoked if you decide to leave the human race; If for all intents and purposes your thought processes are still human but everything physically about you is not?

Edited April 15, 2010 by Leader Bee
stupid grammar mistake.

[Icefire]

They should be treated the same and they can live among humans (but probably in a less... strict society); just that if they wanted to build a summer home on the moon it would be significantly cheaper because they would not require an atmosphere.

[Leader Bee]

It would be significantly more expensive. It costs~ $10,000 per kilogram to reach LEO and i'm sure robotic peopel weigh more than normal people despite the lack of food, water and oxygen they need to take with them.

[Genecks]

In that case there is plenty of desert for them to inhabit. Nice and dry and i'm assuming if they're enveloped in some kind of synthetic skin they'd be failry well protected from sandstorms inteferring with their systems.

 

Much cheaper than packing them off to space and they might actually be able to turn that land arable in time.

 

Decent response. I hadn't considered that.

 

Along with the fact that the land could have large amounts of land and solar input, an android/cyborg society could more than likely live in such an environment. It wouldn't be a bad lands for them.