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The Dominant Life Form In the Cosmos Is Probably Superintelligent Robots
Jason Koebler writes: If and when we finally encounter aliens, they probably won't look like little green men, or spiny insectoids. It's likely they won't be biological creatures at all, but rather, advanced robots that outstrip our intelligence in every conceivable way. Susan Schneider, a professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, joins a handful of astronomers, including Seth Shostak, director of NASA's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, NASA Astrobiologist Paul Davies, and Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology Stephen Dick in espousing the view that the dominant intelligence in the cosmos is probably artificial. In her paper "Alien Minds," written for a forthcoming NASA publication, Schneider describes why alien life forms are likely to be synthetic, and how such creatures might think.
They were made out of meat
that we're entirely made of meat.
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
For intelligent forms, that seems to be the case here on earth.
There are about 1.5 billion smartphones on the planet. If you ask a smartphone "who is the vice president of the united states", approximately all of them will say (speak) "Joe Biden is the vice president".
Based on surveys I've seen, only a couple million people reach the same level of intelligence, knowing who the vice president is. Therefore, silicon can be considered to be the most common form of intelligence on earth.
Even more so on the coasts of the US, of course, as humans are becoming more silicone, leaving all intelligence to the silicon.
Sure robots are life forms, like us they think, feel, have an uncontrollable urge to sing folk songs when magnets are attached to them, etc.
SF != Reality. Everyone knows that.
However there is a strong possibility that these robots won't be all robot brain'd but be a collective of biological lifeform in a robot body for longevity, because of the amount of time it takes to transverse space for biological lifeforms, either cryogenics or some form of deep hibernation would be necessary.
So Daleks with a built in beer cooler.
So Daleks with a built in beer cooler.
Which if you think about it, is the way to go especially coupled with the conversion of the Dalek armor to a jacuzzi. I'm surprised the Doctor never spotted this defect in the Dalek design. But I guess that would have made for a short Doctor Who season with everyone becoming a blissfully drunk and jacuzzied Dalek and living happily ever after. "INEBRIATE! INEBRIATE! INEEEEBRIIIIIATE!"
"Give us another 100 years..."
No way.
I already gave you 100 years and I'm still waiting for my flying cars and my underwater cities. You wasted your credit.
In what way is a "robot" a "life form"?
When they are the ones holding the death rays, they can be called whatever they like.