Steven Dick
December 12, 2024
Zoom recording
Abstract:
The discovery of what I have called a “Biological Universe” full of life would have substantial effects not only on science, but also on society at large, including philosophical, theological, and ethical impacts (Dick, 1996; Dick, 2018). This presentation discusses systematic approaches to those questions from the point of view of history, the nature of discovery, and the promise and pitfalls of analogy, and surmises what the impacts might be under differing scenarios. We also argue based on what I call the Intelligence Principle, “the central principle of cultural evolution,” that it is highly likely we live in a postbiological universe full of artificial intelligence (Dick, 2003). The existence of postbiological superintelligences has implications for SETI, for post-detection protocols, and for our future interactions with life in all its forms. All of these implications require further interdisciplinary study from the natural science, social science and artificial intelligence communities.