Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!dgp.toronto.edu!mccool
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
From: mccool@dgp.toronto.edu (Michael McCool)
Subject: Re: Thinking Machines
Message-ID: <1990Dec1.085140.25973@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
References: <9^}^-!+@rpi.edu> <1990Nov30.145228.21484@abcfd20.larc.nasa.gov>
Date: 1 Dec 90 13:51:40 GMT
Lines: 24

jcburt@ipsun.larc.nasa.gov (John Burton) writes:

>In more general terms, is it possible for man to create something as complex
>(if not more so) than himself ? I don't know... Is it advisable? probably
>not since such a machine eventually might be considered a "god"...

>John
>(jcburt@cs.wm.edu)

Speaking of science fiction on this topic, don't miss "Destination Void"
by Frank Herbert, and the followup books "The Jesus Incident", 
"The Lazarus Effect" and "The Ascension Factor".  The premise is that
the result of an "Artificial Consciousness" and succeed *too* well...
by the machine's defintion, *people* are barely conscious most of the
time!

Of the above, "Destination Void" is the best and considers the development
of the machine.  I think the title is a reference/pun on the Buddhist "void",
but I could be wrong.  

He explicitly considers the problems with creating something greater than
yourself.

mccool@dgp.toronto.edu


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