In Defence of the Hivemind Society
The idea that humans should abandon their individuality and use technology to bind themselves together into hivemind societies seems both farfetched and frightening—something that is redolent of the worst dystopias from science fiction. In this article, we argue that these common reactions to the ideal of a hivemind society are mistaken. The idea that humans could form hiveminds is sufficiently plausible for its axiological consequences to be taken seriously. Furthermore, far from being a dystopian nightmare, the hivemind society could be desirable and could enable a form of sentient flourishing. Consequently, we should not be so quick to deny it. We provide two arguments in support of this claim—the axiological openness argument and the desirability argument—and then defend it against three major objections.
Life, Intelligence, Consciousness, AI, and the Future of Humans
What if our minds are merely vessels for a universal consciousness, and suffering is just a bug in our mental programming? Joscha Bach and Lex Fridman explore this radical idea, discussing the stages of self-awareness, the potential for telepathy, and the transformative power of AI. Bach argues that AI's evolution may lead to a unified global mind, transcending individual identities and reshaping life as we know it. Are we on the brink of a new era of consciousness, or is humanity destined to stumble into oblivion?
Neuralink and the Brain's Magical Future
What if your brain could seamlessly connect to a computer, enhancing your intelligence and unlocking new abilities? Tim Urban dives into Neuralink, Elon Musk’s ambitious project to merge minds with AI. Our brains, while remarkable, are slow compared to machines—Neuralink’s neural lace technology could change that. But this isn’t just about creating cyborgs; it’s about overcoming human limitations and shaping the future of intelligence itself. Are we on the verge of a true symbiosis with AI?
Noospheric Consciousness
The world-wide web has been conceptualized as a global brain for humanity due to its neural network-like organization. To determine whether this global brain could exhibit features associated with consciousness, we review three neuroscientific theories of consciousness: information integration, adaptive resonance and global workspace. These theories propose that conscious states are characterized by a globally circulating, resonant pattern of activity that is sufficiently coherent to be examined and reflected upon. We then propose a correspondence between this notion and Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of the noosphere as a forum for collective thinking, and explore some implications of this self-organizing dynamics for the evolution of shared, global understanding.
What is the Noosphere?
Picture Earth evolving a new layer—not of rock or life, but of thought and technology. This “noosphere” is like a planetary brain emerging through our global networks, satellites, and collective intelligence. The paper explores how this mysterious transformation could represent Earth’s next evolutionary leap, potentially leading to planetary consciousness or even contact with other cosmic minds. It’s happening right now, though we’re still figuring out how to guide this planetary metamorphosis.
