I've been thinking about the idea of wonder with regard to the life and, more particularly, the human body, so I wanted to take a minute to curate some resources that I've found on the topic. The twist, though, is that I want to look at biology through the lens of robots and other technology that have been created to mimic real life. So, without further ado, I give you a brief account of the caprices of Greg's internet browsing:
1. Robotic Ants
So, this first one blew my mind a little bit just because of how similar the behavior of the robots was to that of ants. It's maybe hard to get past the external appearance (which looks more like a die than an ant), but the movement and behavior seem so realistic. I think there is a lot more in common between computers and mankind than we maybe think (including mankind, though I hesitate somewhat in saying this).
2. Theo Jansen's Strandbeests
I was translating a work by Eliade in Moscow last year when I came upon a phrase that seemed like a revelation to me. It said something along the lines of this: man, in his every act of creation, seeks to recreate himself--his own soul and consciousness--from the materials that surround him. Eliade spoke specifically of the semiotic parallels between the home and the human body, but for some reason at that moment, staring into a computer screen, it dawned on me that computers are simply an external replica--an extension--of the human brain. Just as information travels through our minds via electric impulses, electricity powers our computers and stores away information in what is aptly called memory. The realization was so profound for me. It wasn't really a novel discovery or anything, as many others had proposed the same relation much earlier than I had, but it was my thought, and that brought me a state of sheer wonder. It was, I think, the first time that I had viewed modern technology through any sort of lens of beauty, and especially in light of my long-time apprehension about all things tech, it has been an exciting path from that major realization as I've sought to understand the unity of the human and his creation. I sometimes just marvel at how amazing the human mind is, and it gets me excited for the future of programming and digital discovery.
6. DNA and Javascript: Deus in Machina
Really, if you think about it, in the end, humans are sort of like really complex computers, or computers are really rudimentary humans, at the deepest level. Computer code is written in binary, meaning that all the information is stored as sequences of 1 and 0. If you look at DNA,is written in quaternary. DNA is composed of a combination of four nucleotide "bases" or subunits: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine (comparatively the 0, 1, 2, and 3 of a number-based quaternary). Each of these provides certain information within the genome and accounts for the characteristics that we each embody. Every single trait, every single interaction within the body, is determined in one way or another, by a complex code made up of just four little subunits. I posted recently on Google+ about a comment that Freeman Dyson made concerning the future of the human genome: "In the future, a new generation of artists will write genomes the way Blake and Byron wrote verses." Just as in computer programming, we code the behavior and functionality of what is otherwise a hunk of metal and sand, so also does DNA allow for a mound of clay to begin to move and breathe and grow and think. We sometimes look at machines as godless and soulless, but if God put the soul into man and man puts a piece of his own consciousness and soul into a machine, then is not God also in the machine?
See Craig Venter's work for a look at "synthetic life."
As a continuation of the last section on computer programming and DNA, I want to extend our scope to a discussion of proteins. One of the fundamental principles of biology is that structure determines function, and the same is true for proteins and the cells that produce them. Proteins, by the way, are the building block for pretty much everything in your body, so they are rather important when it comes to life. In any case, these proteins are synthesized within cells using RNA, which is much like DNA except for the fact that it uses a fifth nucleotide base, uracil, in place of adenine. It's basically another quaternary code. The proteins are put together using a number of functional groups that determine the protein's shape, size, and function. It is interesting to note, though, the clear connections to coding. Once again, each protein is "coded" using a finite number of amino acids (in this case, rather than quaternary, it would be base-21... icosihenary?). The behavior of the protein is dependent on so-called functional groups that each perform certain roles, almost like a function being called within a computer program. Anyway, I'm geeking out right now, but it's something that inspires awe within me, trying to understand it all and the parallels existent between man and his creations.
Okay, so I'm not really sure how to convey what I feel when I think about synthetic hearts, but it really is amazing that technology has progressed to the point where we can replace something so integral as a human heart. I see an archetypal link between the heart (or more generally, the human body as a whole) and the machine, and this is just another step toward their unity. The idea is kind of terrifying and wonderful all at the same time, but if we are going to have human augmentation, then I would rather have it be something like this--saving lives--than adding guns and lasers and targeting reticules to people.
And on that note, more on human augmentation. I just finished playing through Square Enix's Deus Ex, a speculative, futuristic sci-fi action game dealing with the issue, so it's been on my mind. In Deus Ex, the player assumes the role of Adam Jensen, Head of Security at a biotech company that produces augmentations that allow humans to do all sorts of things that would otherwise be impossible--jump higher, run faster, fall from immense heights without injury--eventually, even cloak oneself. Honestly the story was really dark and had more violence than I typically care to endure, but for me, the ideas--the world and the conflicts that Square-Enix had crafted--were so stimulating and eye-opening. The game addresses everything from social stratification to drug addiction and political intrigue, all in connection with the concept of human augmentation, and I often found myself so entranced that I would stay up until 2 or 3 am just reading through in-game e-books and newspapers trying to get a better feel for the issues and thinking about the future of human biotechnology. I don't know that I recommend playing the game, but I would certainly be happy to tell you all about it if you're okay having your ear talked off.
"I thought... I thought I was alive." Now, as a precaution, this video shows a partially nude female android (gynoid?) for a few seconds. Her privates and breasts are covered up, but in any case, you've been informed. For me, watching this video for the first time was an intensely emotional and thought provoking experience, and it is still one of my favorite videos of all time. It raises so many questions as to the nature of consciousness and the humanity of artificial intelligence. Do we, in some sense, give life to artificially intelligent creations? Can they think? To what degree can AI approach or surpass human intelligence? Now watch, and be amazed.
So basically the take-home is that we have sought to capture the awe of our own bodies--our consciousness--our minds, our behaviors, by exporting that reality into external minds and worlds: to make tangible or sensible that which before was only in imagined. I feel that this represents the next step in terms of the progression of human consciousness after the empirical age, i.e. that of creating anew and in stunning fidelity that which we have perceived and processed. It is, in some sense, the creator's spark, and the world is catching fire.
1. Robotic Ants
2. Theo Jansen's Strandbeests
I think I'm still a little bit in shock over this, even though it's been years since I first saw it. I think the thing I love most about this artist is that his work, aside from being amazing and beautiful and mind blowing, also seeks a unity between life and the machine. His contraptions, though lifeless, really do take on lifelike qualities, and it's interesting to note the "evolution" that has taken place in his designs over the years. Evolution is one of the most awe-inspiring concepts I've encountered, especially as I've sought to find concord between my religious faith and my scientific background. I think we too often separate the two, though, and we miss out on the beauty and awe that we might experience in realizing that these are just pieces of a single truth.
3. Barely-Noticeable Androids
Before I get into the more philosophical stuff, I wanted to show how far android technology has come in terms of mimicking human behavior. Granted, there is still a lot of work to do, but I think that's an even greater witness to the complexity and wonder of the human body. This video shows a number of "barely-noticeable androids" under development, and while it can be a little bit creepy realizing that you're not looking at a human, the field in general is super fascinating and always amazes me.
4. Computers and the Human Brain
I was translating a work by Eliade in Moscow last year when I came upon a phrase that seemed like a revelation to me. It said something along the lines of this: man, in his every act of creation, seeks to recreate himself--his own soul and consciousness--from the materials that surround him. Eliade spoke specifically of the semiotic parallels between the home and the human body, but for some reason at that moment, staring into a computer screen, it dawned on me that computers are simply an external replica--an extension--of the human brain. Just as information travels through our minds via electric impulses, electricity powers our computers and stores away information in what is aptly called memory. The realization was so profound for me. It wasn't really a novel discovery or anything, as many others had proposed the same relation much earlier than I had, but it was my thought, and that brought me a state of sheer wonder. It was, I think, the first time that I had viewed modern technology through any sort of lens of beauty, and especially in light of my long-time apprehension about all things tech, it has been an exciting path from that major realization as I've sought to understand the unity of the human and his creation. I sometimes just marvel at how amazing the human mind is, and it gets me excited for the future of programming and digital discovery.
5. Virtual and Augmented Realities
While we're on the topic of externalizing the human mind, I wanted to touch on virtual and augmented realities, as they are a fairly recent fascination. Last semester, I wrote a bit about how virtual worlds tie into the Kantian model of perception, i.e. that humans create their own worlds through the imagination as they process sensory data supplied by various phenomena:
"In a very real sense, digital or virtual worlds become the real-life manifestations of the imaginative representations of the mind. Makers of these virtual worlds create them as explorations of ideas and objects within our own real existence, so these digital spheres become, in effect, real-life extensions of the symbolic or semiotic relationships that exist within our minds..."That might not have made a ton of sense, but basically, I think that just like computers are extensions of the human mind, virtual worlds are sensory externalizations of the human imagination. That was a pretty mind blowing concept for me, that just as we use our imaginations to, in effect, build our real world, so also are we able to export that world into an external brain, a mechanical mind, so that others can experience the worlds that we have created.
6. DNA and Javascript: Deus in Machina
Really, if you think about it, in the end, humans are sort of like really complex computers, or computers are really rudimentary humans, at the deepest level. Computer code is written in binary, meaning that all the information is stored as sequences of 1 and 0. If you look at DNA,is written in quaternary. DNA is composed of a combination of four nucleotide "bases" or subunits: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine (comparatively the 0, 1, 2, and 3 of a number-based quaternary). Each of these provides certain information within the genome and accounts for the characteristics that we each embody. Every single trait, every single interaction within the body, is determined in one way or another, by a complex code made up of just four little subunits. I posted recently on Google+ about a comment that Freeman Dyson made concerning the future of the human genome: "In the future, a new generation of artists will write genomes the way Blake and Byron wrote verses." Just as in computer programming, we code the behavior and functionality of what is otherwise a hunk of metal and sand, so also does DNA allow for a mound of clay to begin to move and breathe and grow and think. We sometimes look at machines as godless and soulless, but if God put the soul into man and man puts a piece of his own consciousness and soul into a machine, then is not God also in the machine?See Craig Venter's work for a look at "synthetic life."
7. Proteins and Programming
As a continuation of the last section on computer programming and DNA, I want to extend our scope to a discussion of proteins. One of the fundamental principles of biology is that structure determines function, and the same is true for proteins and the cells that produce them. Proteins, by the way, are the building block for pretty much everything in your body, so they are rather important when it comes to life. In any case, these proteins are synthesized within cells using RNA, which is much like DNA except for the fact that it uses a fifth nucleotide base, uracil, in place of adenine. It's basically another quaternary code. The proteins are put together using a number of functional groups that determine the protein's shape, size, and function. It is interesting to note, though, the clear connections to coding. Once again, each protein is "coded" using a finite number of amino acids (in this case, rather than quaternary, it would be base-21... icosihenary?). The behavior of the protein is dependent on so-called functional groups that each perform certain roles, almost like a function being called within a computer program. Anyway, I'm geeking out right now, but it's something that inspires awe within me, trying to understand it all and the parallels existent between man and his creations.
8. Tin-Man Heart
Okay, so I'm not really sure how to convey what I feel when I think about synthetic hearts, but it really is amazing that technology has progressed to the point where we can replace something so integral as a human heart. I see an archetypal link between the heart (or more generally, the human body as a whole) and the machine, and this is just another step toward their unity. The idea is kind of terrifying and wonderful all at the same time, but if we are going to have human augmentation, then I would rather have it be something like this--saving lives--than adding guns and lasers and targeting reticules to people.
9. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
10. Quantic Dream's "Kara"
So basically the take-home is that we have sought to capture the awe of our own bodies--our consciousness--our minds, our behaviors, by exporting that reality into external minds and worlds: to make tangible or sensible that which before was only in imagined. I feel that this represents the next step in terms of the progression of human consciousness after the empirical age, i.e. that of creating anew and in stunning fidelity that which we have perceived and processed. It is, in some sense, the creator's spark, and the world is catching fire.
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