Thursday, April 06, 2006

complexity.

according to science the natural resting state of the universe is chaos, or entropy. entropy is the natural desire for things to become more chaotic and disorganised over time. this is born out by things like gas in a vacuum or sugar in water. where this doesn`t happen is on the surface of this planet. funnily enough, all the toasters in the known universe are found right here on earth. so much for entropy.
science and it`s related disciplines such as sociology (which is no science at all.) and politics, administration and politics all want to create chaotic systems as if to prove thier entropy position, while technology, engineering and craftsmanship merrily goes about it`s business constructing, inventing, testing and implementing systems of greater and greater complexity and functionality. y`know, things like computers.
the common element in all of this is the human mind.
science says, "of course humans use thier will to temporarily effect entropy in a negative way, but eventually things break, fail, snap, rust, etc." really? those are effects at the micro level, but over time complexity is on the increase on the macro level. there are more highways, railroads, factories, computers, airplanes, cellphones, cars, malls, toasters......etc. and there is no end in sight.
there are those who say that all great civilisations eventually fail. history bears this out in some sense but for the technology thing. rome didn`t have computers. niether did the pharoahs.
if we continue at this pace of eccelerated complexity pretty soon we will have infinitely fast computers and an artificial intelligence as a byproduct. moore`s law predicts this in clear terms. moore says that computing speed doubles every 18 months. we have been on this track since the 1970s and actually have seen doubling in just over a year on occasion.
it will getto the point where computers become invisible in this form. objects will just be animate. everything will interact in a "conscious" way. doors already open automatically and we`ve become accustomed to it. how many more "star trek" devices are falling into common usage as we speak?
as conscious animals we are ideally suited to technological urban/suburban living. we are toolmakers and technology users. our desires and abilities are rocketing us toward more complex technology and ability. maybe darwin was right......we are evolving another form of consciousness that we will eventually cohabitate with......or maybe become.
i don`t think darwin saw that one.........

2 comments:

Dr.Alistair said...

the little secret about unconditional love was inside you all along, otherwise you wouldn`t have believed me........

Dr.Alistair said...

yes. it`s good to be alive, isn`t it?