JCorvinus @JCorvinus@schelling.pt

I think there's a schism forming in transhumanism that, by 2030, will be obvious to everyone. It'll be similar to classic vs modern liberalism, with classic transhumanists being the grinder/diybio/body freedom maxis, and modern being the WEF/Davos/AI Safety types. They'll both agree that radical tech can improve the human condition, but the modern branch will be willing to embrace totalitarianism in order to (as they argue) prevent global catastrophe.

Anyways, go forth and abolish suffering it'll be fuckin lit

2 reasons for this:
I know that the brain abhors a steady state, and 'keeping your finger on the button' will eventually result in downregulation
&
given the richness of everything I've experienced, in both sober and altered states, the idea of a 'single' pleasure state is just... completely wrong. There's 'firing on all cylinders' euphoria as well as 'melty warm blissful' euphoria at a very minimum

To do some utilitarianism for a bit: there's this really common idea that you can't ever abolish suffering without losing something, but I think this is misguided. I feel there's a cluster of positive-valence states that are roughly equal in value that can be cycled through, some of which entail zen-flow productivity, & any superwellbeing maximizer will optimally explore this space without ever getting caught in the dreaded 'pleasure trap,' and without ever having to fall into negative states

@pee_zombie Oh also I just did some reading and it looks like sensory information might be fed back into thermoregulation? That could be bad news - you don't want your virtual experience of being very cold while actually in a 70 degree room to cause endocrine production to warm you up. I wonder if there's a distinct layer between sensing and perception that might be where one can intervene...

Transhumanism has long been pitched as 'the philosophy of the future,' with proponents wondering when they will get a chance to use radical technology directly upon themselves.

In my article, I propose that Virtual Reality will be where the rubber finally meets the road, and the challenges involved in delivering an ideal VR experience lead directly into body-modifying biotechnologies like BCI

https://arvrjourney.com/how-vr-could-bring-transhumanism-to-the-masses-553cb0a0e14e

@pee_zombie Yeah, that's probably the only feasible way to do it, and is a good part of what my article in my pinned tweet is about, except for taction instead of thermoception. Neural stimulation is its own big challenge though. Invasive means surgery and lots of risk of complications, noninvasive means difficulty in acquiring and delivering signals. I wonder if any progress has been made in biocompatible materials recently...

One thing that really reminds me how far we have to go with VR technology is a night like tonight - 20 degrees F outside. Absolutely frigid. I can't imagine a feasible technological solution for full body programmable variable thermoperception. And the haptics for feeling wind gusts? How would you even do that?

@pee_zombie oh shit that's next level

You can tell that semiotics is a bullshit field of study because they don't have a single, easily recognizable symbol to represent it

Forgive me for talking about collective abstractions, but I think there's a kurzweil shaped hole in the global hivemind right now - no easily available vision for how people spiritually exist in harmony with extreme high tech systems like artificial intelligence, virtual realities, and extreme automation.

I feel like there should be a handful of mainstream media extropian narratives as an antidote to the current vibe. What might those look like, if one were to make them?

@pee_zombie Not deliberately, and not exactly, but VR tech will get there eventually, and my work will definitely contribute.

It will be interesting to see how real high-fidelity systems differ from the original thought experiment due to their needs for productization, and to put people's minds at ease about not getting trapped in the machine. Doesn't the OG thought experiment only come with 1 opt out opportunity?

I love my ridiculous shower thoughts. Was contemplating phenomenal consciousness and reference frames, only to be hit with the realization that "a modern Descartes' evil demon would just be a perfect VR headset"

and a second later was like

'congrats on independently rediscovering The Matrix, JC'

So apparently MIT did sub-millimeter body tracking using magnet implants. Their application is for prosthetics but it could be useful for lots of other things, like Virtual Reality

https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/11/brown-mit-researchers-invent-new-methodology-for-wireless-muscle-tracking