Reincarnation and Robots with Ben Goertzel

Ben Goertzel, PhD, is author of many books on artificial intelligence including Ten Years to the Singularity if We Really Really Try; Engineering General Intelligence, Vols. 1 and 2; The Hidden Pattern: A Patternist Philosophy of Mind; and The Path to Posthumanity. He is also editor (with Damien Broderick) of an anthology about parapsychology titled, Evidence for Psi: Thirteen Empirical Research Reports. He is chief scientific officer for Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong.

In this rebooted video from 2016, he notes that, while the question of reincarnation in robots seems outlandish, most of our present technology would have seemed nonsensical and incomprehensible to earlier generations of humans. He quotes the 14th Dalai Lama who suggested (half-jokingly) that artificial intelligence programmers of the future might incarnate into robots. He cites Stephen Braude’s book, Immortal Remains, as demonstrating that we must consider some version of consciousness operating outside of the body. He outlines the sort of scientific and metaphysical models that might lead to such a development.

(Recorded on April 29, 2016)

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[NewThinkingAllowed]

Statement of Comment Etiquette for New Thinking Allowed

[snowman-v]

Yes! You always talk to the coolest people!

[fourshore]

i love to see when materialists, especially really smart ones like goertzel, can change their views like this. its like a redemption arc of a movie character (but i know his mind has been open for a long time).

[BloodStarvedBrotherhood]

Thank you for the interesting discussion!

The word "robot" is an interesting one to me, as a fan of etymology, as the root of the word comes from the Czech word for "forced labor". I think it points to the potential pitfalls of creating artificial life as it would be much easier to justify treating them as less than human consciousness.

I think that before we progress too much further we need to get straight a metaphysical assumption that gives importance to all forms of consciousness, human or not. Right now the primary metaphysics of science is materialism, which reduces consciousness to merely an epiphenomenon of the material, mechanical workings of Newtonian billiard ball physics. We can all see how this assumption has done great damage to the world and the lifeforms that inhabit it.

[aclearlight]

A lovely romp through a forest of beautiful ideas!

[nathanielsmith]

It may be worth mentioning there is research going on into 'mind-uploading' similar to that of what you see in the movie Transcendence. Rather than build an artificial mind, use an existing one instead. There are some ethical hurdles obviously but in what I've seen in the past a scientist was able to map the neurons of an earth worm and upload them into a lego robot. Little did the scientist know that when he switched on lego robot and initiated the hunger trigger, it began acting as an earthworm normally would to look for food. Very bizarre. The idea is that our mind is made up of electrical signals. We're no different from computers with the exception we exist in a biological shell I guess you can say. Strange world indeed...

[GavriilMichas]

Artificial causality and dimensionality, both are issues of post quantum forthcoming intelligence. Dear Jeffrey & Ben thank you for opening the horizons of thought and helping forward thinking for real.

[Neilgs]

When you describe near the beginning your former girlfriend having a feeling/memory of being “reincarnated” in this life at 2 yrs old, is the first time ever I have heard that!!! It is exactly what I experienced I say 2 or 2.5 yrs old. It was as though before that, I wasn’t “there” or there was a quite indescribably or beyond explanation a point of identity appearing, entering or taking cognizance. I know exactly what she meant when she said that. I would love to have a conversation with her as I have never heard that anywhere else!!!

[farsam]

Please factor in “Neuro-divergence” in the guest’s case is euphemistically encoded languagjnng “emotionally maldeveloped human being.” Sit with this…all will self-reveal. #ComboverWorldRecord

[simonepecoretti]

That guy doesn't look in good shape

[EsotericPrinciplesOfLight]

Some codified systems are easier to replicate

[mertzroofer]

The gita says about a thousand times to believe in god and explains in great detail how your part and parcel to god

[travisporco]

why wait until we can scan a brain? make a digital replicant right now

[brometheus]

Super fringe idea incoming but I have long thought from a Christian perspective that the idea of demonic possession is the root of an idea for entities that have been barred from this plane (demons, djinn, daemons, elves, etc) and that reincarnation is just them being able to enter into willing souls in this plane perhaps through ritual and consciousness manipulation practices. This produces only a short term effect given human frailty and shortened lifespans. The goal is probably an organic robot (hermunculus) that the reincarnated demon soul could be placed into.

[JohnBurman-ll]

There is only consciousness (my Lord) reflecting on itself through the creation which is endlessly evolving. Humans are it's greatest joy potentially and usually misery too. We are free to love our Lord and return home at any time. No religion required in my experience, it's not via mind.... it's all heart.