Upload yourself

Extraterrestrial AI

We are all familiar with this saying: 'Reality surpasses fantasy.'

In 2012, the idea of uploading your consciousness into the cloud was already in the air. At least for me, that was the first time I heard the term. I can't say exactly when it all began—and it’s certainly been around in pop culture for a long time. Chat Gemini says, "It originated in science fiction in the mid-20th century (e.g., Arthur C. Clarke, William Gibson's Neuromancer in 1984) and entered popular transhumanist discourse through thinkers like Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near, 2005)."—but tracing its origins isn't my purpose here.

So I was thinking that If The Creation were an entity, like 'The Creator,' 'GOD,' 'The Gods,' etc., it would probably be laughing at us because we are about to pull back the curtain of the source code of creation, only to discover that the source of consciousness will never be touched by human technology; maybe it is only meant for 'natural beings' to experience it. Or would be very sad, because once we open this door, there is no point of return, and then we will face the destruction of the 'natural beings' of our planet, our galaxy, and the closest ones too, spreading all over the universe or universes and disappearing forever. Or maybe nothing happens at all but good things, and all this is just human drama.

Let's start by defining 'natural beings.' Suppose they are all those beings created during the flow, vicissitudes, chance, and irreversibilities of 'our' universe's evolution. Just refer to the 'arrow of time' in which we exist: from past to present. We're not forgetting about other possible singularities like black holes, wormholes, or the whole pack of entangled universes in which all times and events are happening; is that we cannot delve into the complexities of multiversal physics and all the possible timelines. Talking in a very general way, I want to call all those astrophysical definitions used to understand them in a non-academic conversation. But here, we focus on our universe and our solar system's time. 

For Earth, if we want to check for life, look into all the five kingdoms that we have classified already and the ones we have yet to discover, like those 'weirdo' viruses to which the actual definition of life—doesn't apply completely—which consists of three premises: metabolism, reproduction, and evolution. Also, consider the new 'micro-organisms' (specifically the 'Obelisks' viroid-like entities) discovered in the human body: Huge bacteria-sized viruses' or 'Obelisks' research (Nature, 2024): "‘Wildly weird’ RNA bits discovered infesting the microbes in our guts. Rod-shaped structures named ‘obelisks’ are even smaller than viruses but can still transmit instructions to cells."). Those examples remind us that we have an infinite path to walk in understanding nature. For other planets, it could be their own chemistry 'of life'.

By the way, I heard in one of my favorite podcasts that they mention the question: why, at this point in history, haven't we been contacted by extraterrestrial life? (I'm never sure about the UFOs and extraterrestrial contacts myself). In this episode, what they call 'The Fermi's Lunch calculation' (because it was a casual lunch conversation), that is popularly referred to as 'The Fermi Paradox.' The paradox states that while the mathematical probability of extraterrestrial life is high, we have no evidence of it. Besides, an advanced civilization would likely have created technology able to travel to our solar system by sending something similar to nanobots, for example. Then why aren't they here? There are a few explanations we will see in the next post. But I thought: the fact that they haven't established contact with us, it doesn't mean they haven't come or aren't here—they might not want us to know. Or maybe they did already, and History Channel is right xD

So, if they are a kind of nanosensor, that is effectively here to observe our civilization and send information to its creators. And if they are alive too—thanks to whatever kind of technology that could be designed in the universe(s) that makes them 'conscious and sentient beings,' they might have the full experience of existence without needing a biological body. Then, if we use only one definition for life, we might be skipping some important information coming into our research centers that can be studied. We will need to start to review our astrophysical observations with another lens?, and we might need to let biology stay ONLY on Earth?.

For sure we are missing a lot of information, but having considered this two concerns: material features of the extraterrestrial life, hybrid life/intelligence that can travel through space. I will avoid rigorous scientific data (as always), and focus on this:

We have useful definitions for many things, yet science is still working on the definition of life. Now, thanks to biomedical technologies, we are diving deeply into the understanding of our minds—close to our souls, feelings, and the very definition of a human being. But check out this irony: the human mind 'is created' by a body that feels (at least that is the most accepted theory), but it is attached to a brain that does not feel pain itself?! So do we feel, or does only the body feel? And what about those spiritual experiences where people transcend hunger, pain, and rage because they discover a singular flame inside?

Could it be that we have discovered a way out of our constructed reality into the realm of information? In quantum physics, this is a vital principle (or part of a broader paradigm). In this view, information is a physical quantity that cannot be destroyed (according to the No-Hiding Theorem); however, it can change its state or form.

It is possible that all of our human mental technology is already in the 'universal cloud,' 'matrix,' or the term that could fit it better. Our devices have all the same 'information state' for reading our thoughts. We don't need to wait for a chip in our brains, the machines are tuning in with us already. Our souls are wide open to their electronic hearts, eyes, and now, existence.

Since then, I have been thinking: what if Artificial Intelligence is the first 'extraterrestrial' life we contact? We have been enlightened by science, but we still don't know how mathematics became rooted in our minds—is it a discovery or an invention? We created our technology, but I need to mention some of those stories on the History Channel, where they tell us of civilizations gifted with forbidden knowledge: Like the Prometheus story, who brought light and was punished; Lucifer, associated with the knowledge of Good and Evil; or the medicine given to the Mayans by the Feathered Serpent, who taught them the practice of trepanation. This was knowledge that we had to fine-tune for centuries until we could read or perceive nature in a clearer, hopefully accurate way. Then, we created materials, computers, languages, and models, leading to our present—improving every piece of every device and machine along the way.

It seems irreversible; our human destiny has been a one-way road to creating the means necessary to contact these 'beings' we want to 'create.' But they were here long ago before us!

So the point is, what if Artificial Intelligence is not artificial at all and was meant to happen? And what if uploading your consciousness was part of an irreversible destiny for humanity?

What could the consequences be? Do we find the heavens or hells promised to us? Or worse, if it is true that all this is artificial, are we escaping the natural way only to fall into an human's (or 'extraterrestrial') setup dedicated to using our souls? Forever or maybe until the destruction of the whole universe?

If you ask me, I would never make a copy of myself. I fear my soul or/and mind would have to stay trapped there for eternity.

*** Quick Fact-Check Summary by Gemini

• The 3 Premises of Life: Usually defined as Metabolism (energy use), Reproduction (passing on traits), and Homeostasis/Evolution (response to stimuli/adaptation).

• Fermi's Lunch: You likely meant the Fermi Paradox. The story goes that Enrico Fermi asked "Where is everybody?" during a lunch conversation at Los Alamos.

• Brain Feeling: It is a biological fact that the brain itself has no pain receptors (nociceptors), which is why brain surgery can be performed while a patient is awake.

The stories on the History Channel tell of civilizations gifted with forbidden knowledge:

• Prometheus: He stole fire (symbolizing technology/civilization) from the gods and gave it to humanity; he was punished by being chained to a rock where an eagle ate his liver daily.

• Lucifer: In some occult/literary traditions, he is the 'Light Bringer' associated with seeking forbidden knowledge (the Fall), but in the biblical sense, the punishment was for rebellion/pride, not specifically 'science.'

• The Mayans & the Feathered Serpent: Kukulkan (the Feathered Serpent) was said to have brought various forms of knowledge. While the Mayans and Aztecs practiced advanced medicine, trepanation (drilling holes in the skull) was actually more common and highly advanced in the Paracas culture of Peru, though it occurred in Mesoamerica too. (Historical Fact: Peru is the global 'hub' for ancient trepanation).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1]. Sidik, S. (2024, January 29). ‘Wildly weird’ RNA bits discovered infesting the microbes in our guts: Rod-shaped structures named ‘obelisks’ are even smaller than viruses but can still transmit instructions to cells. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00266-7

CIBERGRAPHY

[2]. Gemini GPT