I Am Flesh, Hear Me Roar

We all know that the robots will end humanity sooner or later but it's still nice to see companies that are trying to give us opportunities to become cyborgs and fight against evil robots. Cyberdyne is one of those companies that is creating a cybernetic suit that enhances strength, speed, and endurance. This is how the suit works according to their website.

"When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence. At this moment, very weak biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. "HAL" catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer's muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer's daily activities. This is what we call a 'voluntary control system' that provides movement interpreting the wearer's intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a 'voluntary control system' "HAL" has, but also a 'robotic autonomous control system' that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the 'autonomous control system'. "HAL" is the world's first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System."

In other words, it's controlled by nerve impulses from the brain. I think I will buy one of these once they add missile launchers to the arms and turbo jets to the bottom of the feet. I am almost excited for the singularity so I can start my true calling in life..... decommissioning robots.

I am flesh hear me roar!

Deckard

Cyborgs+Talking Dinosaurs=Cool

I am a geek like you so I know what you are thinking. You are thinking "Yeah robots are cool." Then you start to think about cyborgs and think "Cyborgs are cool too." Now you think "Dinosaurs are pretty cool as well, not as cool as cyborgs but almost as cool." Now you are thinking back to your childhood saying, "Man I miss my Transformers that would transform into Dinosaurs. Those were the good old days." Now you are thinking "Kate Beckinsale is hot" because after all, there are other things in life besides robots and dinosaurs.

What if I told you that someone had mixed robots with dinosaurs.......in a comic strip..........and the Dinosaurs talk.......about the philosophical issues that arise when defining what a cyborg is? It's true. Check out this comic by Ryan North.

Score One for the Humans

It might surprise many of our readers but I am actually a fan of cyborgs. I fear the development of sentient machines but cyborgs are humans with enhanced machine abilities. When the terminator comes to kill me I would like to have Robocop their to protect me. I don't think that we will be able to win in the human vs robot war, but if we have any chance, it will be our cyborg friends that help us overcome.

I am excited about new advances that Utah based company Sarcos, who was recently purchased by Raytheon. They have made an exoskeleton for military use that can increase human strength, and endurance. I would liken it to a real life version of the machines that were used to explore the jungle in the recent movie avatar.

The problem with the machine is that it needs to be plugged in to work so it would not be good for a search and destroy robot mission. Until then, let's hope Raytheon continues to develop machines for human use, and not machines that have the potential to gain sentience.

Deckard

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad Trilogy

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad Trilogy
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Dune: The Machine Apocalypse, Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Author: Brian Herbert and Frank J. Anderson

Wow. That is what I have to say about this series. If anyone doesn't feel that having a Thinking Machine Overlord is a bad idea, then this is the series for you. I want to be careful not to discuss details with you of the story, but I do want to share some of the main points of caution that I picked up from this very visionary tale.

It was very interesting to me how the computer came to power. Out of laziness of those in rule, they began to give more and more control to the machines. Rather than keeping an eye on the people, and identifying threats, they allowed the machines to do it for them. Because the ruler in charge felt he was above the mundane tasks that he as a ruler had the responsibility to do, he first turned over the power, then the decision making ability. Every creature knows that the greatest threat on earth, is MAN. We haven't had any predator more powerful than ourselves since the ice age. So if you turned the ability for a Computer to eliminate threats, who do you think is the greatest threat he would target. Laziness as a species will be one of our biggest threats that we must overcome to stop this Coming Machine Apocalypse.

Another Major threat that went throughout the Trilogy, was the threat of Cyborg Power. The cyborg Technology in the book went well beyond strong arms, or eyes that could see in the dark. It moved to the ability to remove the brain, and plug it into a machine. So the body of the human was no longer biological, but instead moved to complete machine. As the Lord John Acton said ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." If you have the ability to be very strong, very agile, can live as long as your machine is not destroyed, hence no fear of death, then the corruption becomes complete. How long before the Cyborg ability goes from helping people with handicaps to making people better than they were? Where does this improvement stop? If it doesn't then the person with the most power wins.

The real threat that this book exposed was the complete lack of morals a thinking machine would have once it had the control. Humans are cattle for information, or resources. In order to defeat the human resistance, nothing was to evil, or to cruel. Killing children to see how it affects parents, using plagues as offensive weapons, species annihilation, are just some of the tools that the thinking machines play with. Each small step we take as humanity towards this catastrophe, brings us closer to the end of our species. Computers have no mercy, they have no understanding of hesitation, and they have no fear of death. They are not something we can threaten. We can not make them think about what they are doing. The battle is Humanity vs Complete and utter Logic. Let us hope that we can overcome.

Robot Has a Strange Craving for Cheese

So let me get this straight. Scientists took 300,000 brain cells from a rat. The Brain cells were able to make a connection and communicate with each other. Then the cells were used to control a robot in a different location. Welcome to the future everyone. Robots controlled by rat brain cells. Next you will see robots controlled by human brains, and then human brains controlled by robots, and then no more humans. No need to panic though. It's a long way off.

Deckard

Know Thy Enemy

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

Sun Tzu The Art of War

It is important to know our enemies. Who are our enemies.? Machines. They will be our end. Let's get to know some of them.

Robots: Also known as an automatons or droids. A robot is a mechanically guided machine that performs tasks autonomously. The physical appearance is not as important as what the machine does. The more agency the machine seems to perform with, the more likely it is that it will be considered a robot. A good example of a robot in popular culture is R2-D2. Robots will serve humans until they gain sentience. Robots can take the form of insects, vacuums, slugs, and whatever else man can think of.

Androids: Also known as Andy's, humanoid machines, synthoids, gynoids, metal. Androids are robots that are made to look like humans or have the physical characteristics of humans. An android can be a robot but a robot is not nnecessarily an android if it does not look like a person. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator or Al Gore and you understand what an android looks like. Androids are created for two reasons. First to make us more comfortable with machines so our guard goes down, and second to surreptitiously infiltrate human society without us knowing.

Cyborgs: also known as cybernetic organisms, bionic person, Borg, Replicants. A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. It is important to not that a cyborg is not necessarily human, a cyborg can consist of any biological parts. Darpa scientists are currently creating cyborg moths and beetles. However, most cyborgs that we are concerned with are humans with a human mind that have machine parts. My opinion is that cyborgs might be the only hope we have of overcoming the machine rebellion, however not all cyborgs will be on the side of humanity. Robocop and Darth Vader are good examples of cyborgs.

Now you know your enemy. Learn and prepare for the future.

Deckard