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The Birth of Human Machines
Rodney Brooks, professor of computer science and director of the Artificial Intelligence lab at MIT, writes that within the next fifty years, we will adopt robot technology, silicon and steel into our bodies not to fix something but to improve it.

This is a massive, galaxy-quaking shift in history. No longer will humankind submit to Darwinian evolution. “Now,” writes Brookes, “we will have the option of participating in explicit ways in that evolution.” This would definitely take man yet another step apart from his cousins within the animal kingdom.

Brooks tells us that the widely held assumption in the field of molecular biology is that “humans are machines”. Every living system is a product of molecular interactions. In fact, writes Brooks, the thirty year goal at MIT is to so control the genetics of living systems that “instead of growing a tree, cutting it down, and building a table out of it, we will ultimately be able to grow the the table.”

Imagine a world in which we breed bacterial robots to repair or improve human bodies at the molecular level. Darwin’s revolution placed man in the animal kingdom. The 21st century may see man placed in the world of machines.

Will future generations long for the good old days when Man was just an animal?
Will “Humanity 2.0” be characterized by self-determined evolution that resembles today’s software upgrades? [If you’re new to “Into the Mystic,” read this post in conjunction with my prior post, The Next Fifty Years: The Rise of the X-Men.]

What do you think? Would you enhance your IQ, your memory, your reading speed and retention? Would you enhance your kids to give them an advantage in the world? Welcome to the future.

See you in the Mystic…

Alex McManus

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Upcoming events you don’t want to miss:

• Readers of “Into the Mystic” are the first to know about the “Petaflop” discount for HUMANA 2.0 a national convergence scheduled for February 7-8 in Orlando, Fla. Register before September 15 and you’ll save well over $100.00 per registrant. Speakers: Erwin McManus, Lead Pastor of Mosaic, Gerardo Marti, author of A Mosaic of Believers, Moi, and others.
• The Summer discount for the Makers of Fire tour expire in a few days. Register now and save $30.00 on these regional events. Join the IMN team in Chattanooga, Detroit (area), Montreal, Kansas City (area), or Providence.
• Needed: Heroes for a quest to save the universe one planet at a time. Safe return doubtful. Apply now for the 7-Day Mentoring Immersion in Orlando or Los Angeles. Seating is limited.
  
• Meet your favorite bloggers –or as we like to call them –voxers and listen to good music. Hang out with us in Orlando on the weekend of February 9-11, 2007 for the first ever VWMJ (VOXTROPOLIS WORLD MUSIC JAM)–a music jam for independant artists and a connection point for the cyber city.