Can AI solve the human condition?

 July 8, 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) is generated by computers that can process big amounts of data using neural algorithms meant to mimic and augment biological intelligence. The ultimate promise of AI is its ability to enlighten the human mind to help us break away from the shackles of biology. While we may always be constrained by the laws of physics, some day we may be able to free ourselves, at least partially, from the unplanned constraints of organic chemistry. 

Warning. Reader discretion advised. 

This article contains many heresies and super contrarian views. Reader discretion is advised. Biology is not fate, but simply information. Medicine makes a strategic mistake fixated in fixing natural organs rather than prioritizing replacing them with artificial ones. Nature, although not necessarily our enemy, is certainly not our friend. In trying to cope with the pain of the human condition, humans created myths that have slowed down and hampered the progress of humanity. The average human lifespan is a joke, and significantly delaying natural death is possible. Bodies made of non-biodegradable materials like plastic may be better for humans in the long run. 

Everything is information, and information is everything.

Biology and medicine, like all other fields of study and economic trade, rely on computers to enhance information processing. AI is already helping computational biologists, researchers, and physicians decipher complex genetic code sequences and write better ones. 

Life is a codified cellular network (CCN) produced by blind and brute processes of nature. As far as science can tell, life is not the result of smart design. There is no evidence of any supernatural forces controlling humans as imagined and feared by our primitive ancestors. The generation, copying, pasting, and editing of the genetic code is the result of random change (evolution) and blind utilitarianism (natural selection). 

AI is helping us identify errors in the human genetic code, and will help us write better code for future generations of "humanics" to come. AI will help us improve our biology, and eventually replace it with better alternatives. For example, instead of fixing our fragile and biodegradable bodies, why not replace them in whole or in part with non-biodegradable materials and better energy-independent components? 

Of fixing the old versus creating the new

Imagine a society fixated in fixing old technologies rather than creating new ones. To some extent that is what ancient societies went through during the periods of religious inquisition. Another example, may be what people in communist Cuba have been enduring since the 1960s. In Cuba, the locals are forced to fix and repair old cars--many of them manufactured in the 1950s--instead of replacing them with newer models. 

To some extent, medicine is currently stuck in a "fix the old" mindset. Instead of trying to fix the fragile and super complex biological organs that we inherited from evolution, we should focus on replacing them with more efficient and less complicated artificial (human-made) organs. Perhaps the remnants of mythical beliefs about smart design, including an imaginary heavenly creator and a benign "mother" nature, obscure our vision and hide the truth. 

Our organs are not a miracle. The miracle is that they work! 

Take our hearts for example. The heart is a super complex and complicated pump. It is not that pumping liquid is complex and complicated with our current knowledge of mechanical engineering. It is that evolution created the heart billions of years ago without any idea whatsoever of what it was doing. Evolution is not smart architecture-engineering. Evolution is a random brute force blindly moving things around.  Whatever fails--almost everything--fails. Whatever works, works and moves on regardless of how imperfect, inefficient, utterly defective, or incredibly stupid it may be. 

Colonized by dogmatic, egocentric, and primitive paradigms making us believe that we are products of smart design, we focus on fixing our organic "monkey" bodies rather than re-designing and overhauling them with artificial (human-made) technology like AI. 

The genetic code is another good example. Just like the heart and all other organs, the genetic code is extremely complex and absurdly complicated for the programming it does. This is not evidence of miraculous smart design. To the contrary, it is evidence of ridiculously dumb design. We will be significantly better off rewriting functional biological code in Python! 

There is no need to stick to what "mother" nature generated. There is no "mother" in nature. There is no  heavenly father either as we all know, but are afraid to admit not to enrage the "man upstairs". We have been trained by the Judaic system to fear the "wrath of god". 

There is no need to respect the art of imaginary supernatural forces. Evolution created bizarre systems and workarounds blindly stumbling upon things in billions of years of mindless iterations. We can do better and in a fraction of the time with the technology that we have today. Even more so in the near future as AI continues the creation of better technologies and applications in all fields of study and trade. 

AI can and will enlighten our quest to keep addressing and solving the human condition. The human condition is that our psychological evolution outpaced our physiological one. Our relatively young brains and minds are significantly superior than our very old and cranky bodily organs. Humans are cognitive beings capable of celestial dreams, trapped in the terrestrial bodies of animals. Put bluntly, although humans can dream like gods, they must eat and shit like dogs. AI should help liberate humanity from the shackles of evolution.

Nature is not our friend

In current conventional thinking, nature is "good" while artificial (human-made) is "bad", if not "evil". That makes no sense. Nature is neither good nor evil. Nature is an emotionless random force of purposeless happenstance. Nature is also a statistical failure. 99% of all life forms created by nature have totally failed and gone extinct. The 1% remaining, which includes us humans, is full of errors and painful defects. We can also go extinct. 

We come from nature, and are part of it. However, nature is not our friend. For example, the flesh-eating survival contest generated by nature in the wild is a sad and depressing experience for the average human. For millennia, humans have endured and suffered the brutality of nature. To cope with the pains of nature, humans have resorted to all sorts of drugs--from narcotics to religions--and other coping mechanisms to ease the torturing pain imposed by nature. 

Of gods, pain, and pleasure

Primitive humans invented imaginary gods and many other myths to cope with the pain that nature's brutal survival contests imposes on life. Early humans imagined that supernatural forces controlling everything from above. These poor "souls" (minds) developed dogmatic, unprovable, untestable, faith-based beliefs (neural synaptic connections) about correlations between real pain on Earth and imaginary pleasures on an afterlife or multiple lives after the one on Earth. Even to this day, many humans rationalize that supernatural forces prescribe suffering on living creatures for altruistic reasons that are beyond human understanding. 

Cleverly, early humans created comforting myths to ease or escape the pain of the human condition. Some honed on the fiction of a heavenly "father" while others opted for the illusion of a caring earthy "mother". Despite logical evidence to the contrary (i.e. no father or mother worthy of reverence or idolatry would treat their offspring like living creatures are treated on Earth), the pleasure of believing in myths outweighed the pain of accepting painful realities and unknowns. 

Of course, not all humans resort to fairy tales to cope with the human condition. Some accept the pain and move on. Some humans opt for other dopamine-driven coping mechanisms such as seeking knowledge by studying and probing reality under the scientific method. Others call it quit, opting for completing suicide, either quickly or in slow-motion, to escape the pain of playing an active role in the vicious circus of nature. 

The Average Human Lifespan is a Joke

Nothing lasts forever. Individually, the pain of the human condition does not last long. Worldwide, the average human life expectancy worldwide is only about 73 years. Religious mythology aside, is there any reason why humans should live so briefly in average? Note that some turtles live over 200 years, and some sharks can live for almost 500 years.  

AI will augment our intelligence, reduce our ignorance, and help us expand and improve our lifespans.  Smart developers will focus on developing and marketing AI-powered "unnatural" and artificial (human-made) solutions. Gradually, humans will realize that nature cannot be counted on. Our best technology (tool and method) going forward is AI-powered information processing and mathematical computing.

The abolition of natural death

The future of medicine should be based on liberating humans from our current bone and flesh biodegradable bodies. The path forward for humanity should not be based solely on fixing our natural biodegradable organs, but should also contemplate transplanting our heads and nerves into non-biodegradable bionic platforms.

Why do humans die? That is a trick question. The question of "why" implies the existence of a purpose. As far as we know, there is no purpose for death just like there is no purpose for life. Life happens. Death happens. They happen because they the current genetic code is weak and ineffective. 

Putting myths aside, establishing a fundamental purpose for life or death is a philosophical endeavor subject to potentially endless debates in circular faith-based logical arguments. Fortunately, the question of how humans die, or what are the causes of human death can be approached more objectively with less debate. 

Injuries and diseases (IDs)

Fundamentally, humans die due to injuries, diseases, or a combination of both. Lethal injuries can end a human life instantly. Nonlethal injuries can kill a human body over time. Likewise, diseases can kill a human relatively quickly or gradually over time. Injuries can lead to deadly diseases, and vice versa.  

Injuries generally result from mishaps under the laws of physics. When humans find themselves in the wrong side of gravity and inertia such as when falling from heights or being abruptly stopped when traveling at high speed, the resultant transfer of energy into the fragile human body can prove lethal. Some injuries are a combination of the laws of physics and the bizarre rules of biology. Since our cells are so incredibly depended on oxygen to survive, just a couple of minutes without air kills most humans. A blockage in an artery can lead to a heart attack (ischemic heart disease) where the heart dies just for being without oxygen for a few seconds. 

Worldwide, the following causes of death are consistently among the most common and prevalent:

    -Accidents causing lethal injuries are the main cause of death for people younger than 45 years old. Violence, alcohol, drugs, speed, gravity are factors. Among trauma, excessive bleeding is the main cause of death. 

   -Cardiovascular diseases: Heart diseases, including coronary artery disease, heart attacks (myocardial infarctions), and strokes, are the leading cause of death worldwide. Risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.

    -Cancers: Various types of cancer, such as lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer, contribute to mortality. Risk factors can include genetic predisposition, tobacco and alcohol use, exposure to carcinogens, obesity, and lack of physical activity.

    -Pulmonary diseases: Respiratory illnesses like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, and lung cancer contribute to a significant number of deaths. Smoking, air pollution, and occupational exposures are common risk factors for respiratory diseases.

    Metabolic diseases: Kidney and liver diseases are commonly deadly. Factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain medications can damage the kidneys and lead to fatal complications. Diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, can lead to premature death when poorly managed. Factors for deadly liver diseases, such as cirrhosis, hepatitis, and liver cancer include excessive alcohol consumption, viral infections (e.g., hepatitis B and C), obesity, and certain medications.

    Neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer's disease and other dementias cause cognitive decline and are a leading cause of death in older adults. The exact causes of these diseases are not fully understood, but time-induced cell damage (i.e. aging) is a main contributing factor. 

All causes of death above, except perhaps neurodegenerative diseases, could be solved by transplanting the human head and nerves into non-biodegradable artificially created bionic bodies. We can all be like Darth Vader without having to be evil about it. 

Non-biodegradable humanity

In contemporaneous thinking, plastics are "evil" because they are not biodegradable. Perhaps in future, non-biodegradable compounds likes plastics can be the perfect replacement for flesh and bone bodies. 

Plastic is non-biodegradable because it is composed of synthetic polymers that do not naturally break down or decompose in the environment. Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating units called monomers. Plastics are polymers derived from petroleum or natural gas. The chemical structure of plastics gives them properties like durability, flexibility, and resistance to biodegradation.

Biodegradation is the process by which microorganisms (e.g. bacteria and fungi) consume (eat) and break down (digest) organic matter. Biodegradation depends on natural enzymes that break down organic compounds into simpler substances. In the case of plastics, natural enzymes do not break them down due to their chemical structure.

Plastics can persist in the environment for hundreds of years or more, depending on their type and environmental conditions. Some plastics may undergo a process called photodegradation when exposed to sunlight, breaking into smaller fragments known as microplastics. While these microplastics are not easily visible, they can persist in the environment for a long time.

In addition to plastics, there are several other non-biodegradable materials such as metals, glasses, ceramics, synthetic fabrics, and synthetic rubbers. Metals, such as aluminum, steel, and iron corrode and deteriorate over time due to exposure to moisture and oxygen, but do not undergo biological decomposition. Glasses are made of silica, which does not break down naturally in the environment. Ceramics, including pottery, tiles, and bricks, are made of heated clay or other inorganic materials that do not readily decompose. Synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic, are derived from petrochemicals (like plastics) and also have complex molecular structures that are not easily broken down by natural enzymes. Synthetic rubbers like the ones in tires are also made from petroleum-based chemicals that are highly resistant to biodegradation.

From an environmental protection and preservation standpoint, proper waste management, recycling, and the development of sustainable alternatives to non-biodegradable materials are crucial for mitigating adverse impacts to organic life. 

From a "next life" standpoint, however, non-biodegradable inorganic materials appear suitable to take human life to the next level. If future bodies are made of non-biodegradable materials, they could live longer. Instead of organic "flesh", our bodies could be engineered to be made out of inorganic non-biodegradable mesh. 

Our future is AI

Life is a coded cellular network. After almost 4 billion years of randomly copying and pasting code, evolution and natural selection got us to the point where we are now. Our human brains and minds (related, but not the same) have evolved above and beyond the evolutionary biochemical constraints. While we may always be bound to the laws of physics, there is no fundamental need to be bound by the random rules of organic chemistry. 

Artificial (human-made) intelligence is the key moving forward. As stated above, biology is not fate, but is rather information. We are figuring out the information encoded in nature, and already know that we can do much better using and applying smart design than what evolution generated by random trial and error. Nature is not the enemy, but is not our friend. AI is our friend. AI is us, and we are AI. Together, we will keep solving the human condition and taking life to the next level here in spacetime. 

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