CYBORG FANTASIES

Misleading Perceptions of Improving “The Human Condition”

2011-04-04T02:36:00.002-12:00

One of my articles on Techno Progressivism has been published by the IEET. Here is an excerpt :

We are perpetually consumed by this “double life” scenario between what we project our society to be, and the society we actually live in. Impregnation of fantasy expectations portrayed in movies and other art forms into reality is a much favored venture of the human species. Laws of acceleration and trends of minimalism have increased the inclining curve of technological progress and physio-dimensional proportions. Energy, computing power, and genetics have all been favored playing fields.
The technologies or their advancement is in itself not to be blamed since their evolution is a natural inevitability of human civilization. In fact, all of the previously mentioned technologies hold great promise in improving the human condition.
Answers and newer knowledge on genomics and proteomics would increase our knowledge about our origins, strengths, and susceptibilities. We will have improved specific medications for serious ailments. Synthetic biology would bring down delivery timelines for precision drug design and delivery systems at the nano-scale. Sentience generation in other species would enable their utilitarian exploitation. Research into mice longevity would indeed eventually contribute to human longevity. However, I think that too much hype is being placed in the wrong direction.
Why are we fascinated by these technological fantasies?

Read the full article : http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/manoj20110331

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REASONS FOR LOVE AND HOPE TO OTHER SPECIES IN THE POSTHUMAN FUTURE

2010-11-17T23:00:00.005-12:00

I am writing this after having responded to a respected “bioethicist” friend with whom I am connected via Facebook. In his photo albums, he has a picture of a protected area for dogs in Thailand. This got me thinking. Being the “internet savvy” and “digitally addicted” personality that I am, I immediately commented on the photograph with my personal reflection that dogs within protected enclosures only creates “secluded love”. I went on to state that real love towards these animals would be to watch them roam around freely, whilst still being protected from harm ! I did receive a very nice reply from him saying that such protective measures for animals showcase the hope for a basic love towards all kinds of life. I liked his reply on the re-affirmation of hope. However, I was not completely satisfied with the promise of hope and love. Why ?

You see, Thailand incidentally happens to be one of the major sources for "Dog meat" in Asia, especially Vietnam. (read about it here). Dogs evoke such strong emotions in us because they express to us, a lot of love. My own departed canine friend was like a brother to me for over 14 good years ! Therefore, we are naturally inclined to protect those animals which respond to us with love, intelligence and in many cases, obedience. However, the entire world is not so rosy. Members of the canine species have long been used as meat, experimental animals and for sadistic sports; which are often direct reflections of our barbaric instincts. To those among us who love our canine friends, such cruelty is horrifying. However, our sympathy alone will not do any good. What else is needed ?

Given a choice between protecting a crocodile and a cute puppy , 90 % would choose the puppy. If given the information on a greater importance of the crocodile to the balance of the ecosystem compared to the thoroughbred puppy, the percentage of “puppy protectors” may or may not drop down. But if given the choice our survival in the planet would be severely challenged in the next week without the crocodile; most of us would willingly sacrifice the puppy and embrace the crocodile!

Are we truly the altruistic beings we portray ourselves to be ? I think not. We may pride ourselves as being the only living being that provides protection for other forms of life. But sadly, we are much further from the truth. We protect and conserve wildlife and natural resources because of our own selfish need to survive as a species. Modern ecological science has taught us that the future of mankind in this planet is bleak if we keep destroying the other inhabitants of this life, irrespective of their “cuteness”. Take the most basic example from India. A rice farmer tolerates an abundance of poisonous snakes only because they keep the rat population at check. If the same farmer moves to a protected rodent proof greenhouse, protection of the snake species would not be such an important criteria.

Okay. Enough with the usual sentiments of protecting the flora and fauna of our planet. What does all of this have to do with a posthuman future ? The transhuman or the posthuman future would be manifested on this, and other planets. How would we treat our current planetary co-habitants then ? Would we still offer refuge and protection ? I am not so optimistic. We would probably at best do what we have continued to do thus far. We would accelerate the growth and multiplication of species which are of the most beneficial and eradicate those that are not. Locusts and other traditional pests that include the ubiquitous mosquito would be a distant memory. So would parasites which sustain the life of pathogenic micro-organisms. We would re-engineer several species as we have been doing currently to our livestock. This is not a prediction. It is already happening. Hybrid and genetically altered livestock are being used by us on a normal basis. Every living creature is allowed life solely for the preservation of the human species. Am I going too far ? I don’t think so.

Let me make one thing very clear. We are neither the angels nor the demons to this planet. We are merely an intelligent species. Therefore, all these excuses about us loving our planet for it’s beauty and splendor are an absolute delusion that we place, upon our fundamental nature and instinct to survive as a species. If given the technological capacity of planetary population control , we would readily sterilize all other species and allow procreation of our species alone. This is not a “wrong” thing to do if understood very carefully and logically. The fundamental purpose of every civilization’s growth in human history has been to preserve human life. If we do not build fences, the other animals would not hesitate to make short work of our resources. This is the law of nature and we are also subject to the oldest law “survival of the fittest”. Are we no better than parasites or viruses then? I think not.

(Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sus_scrofa_domestica.jpg)

The ongoing evolution towards Technological posthumanism is bringing several positive changes. We are harnessing energy from resources more efficiently. The old notions that technology will bring unprecented disaster upon the planet should be put into reserve in face of technologies that are becoming cleaner every year if not every decade ! Very soon, synthetic biology shall enable us to “create” our requirements rather than modify or enhance the existing gene pool of this planet’s biodiversity. The Bioethical principles are rapidly becoming outdated and must be renewed in face of a glorious future for our species. We will be able to communicate and incorporate our sentient qualities onto the animals we find useful for our survival.

The true test to our morality and altruistic nature would come as we race towards the technological singularity. Would we bother about other life forms in this planet when we have no need of them for our sustenance ? Would we “love” them then ? Would they have “hope” for a “basic life” ?The answers are available now, every time we choose a meat product or a vegetable from the supermarket. What are our present choices ? Organic or non-organic ? To most, it is a question of the amount of money in one’s wallet relative to the number of family members to feed. When the questions and the answers become as simple as this, what would be the reason for “hope” and “love” towards animals and other life forms in the posthuman future ? THINK.

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My recent article in IEET

2010-08-31T04:10:00.001-12:00

Hey ! My article with Khannea Suntzu, an online avatar got published in IEET. It is titled :

Conflicting Convictions of Personhood and Emulated Personhood

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Christina is Bionic

2010-06-20T07:43:00.003-12:00

Wow ! Christina anguilera becomes a CYBORG !..or rather...BIONIC as per her new album ! real cool ! heard the album isn't doing too good in the charts, but who cares ! you rock as far as this blog is concerned !

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Saving the "Humanism" in Transhumanism

2010-06-13T02:27:00.008-12:00

Should a person become a transhumanist before he is a humanist or is he to become a humanist first before becoming a transhumanist ? A well crafted question but one that deserves serious thought as to it's purpose !

If you ask me, I would say that we are becoming transhumanists at a faster rate rather than the other way ! Humanism, ethics and other associated emotionally charged wellness packages have taken a back seat. The front row seats to the brave new world is filled with recombinant genes, neural interfaces and supremely destructive weaponry. Thanks to virtual worlds and virtual conferences, we no longer have to travel long distances and feel the physical comfort of a handshake or a comprade's embrace. We can just as well sit in our recliners and keep getting obese on high energy GMO foods while we blog, chat and even tweet our way into the future. Soon, you need not be bothered with the racing of the heart when confronting a live human being in a vile argument. You might as well throw a few disgusting emoticons from the comfort of your home, office or even your car !

It is more of the same regret being addressed again. Technology is replacing raw physical presence in the matter of human relationships. I cite all these usual complaints since I feel transhumanism in it's original definition is slowly fading away. Let's see how Wikipaedia defines transhumanism and humanism :

TRANSHUMANISM :
"Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities. The movement regards aspects of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death as unnecessary and undesirable. Transhumanists look to biotechnologies and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Dangers, as well as benefits, are also of concern to the transhumanist movement".

HUMANISM :
"Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, or practice that focuses on human values and concerns".

I feel both definitions somehow have drifted apart instead of a favourable fusion. When I first became exposed to the transhumanist gravy train, I thought the advanced technologies being addressed or promoted would be for the betterment of all human civilization. However, as each year passes into the next great revolution, the transhumanist movement is increasingly becoming a passive observer in face of the rapid acceleration of technology. In fact, I guess the singularity movement has played it safe by stating that the wolf would come and it would come so fast that it would eat you up before you had time to react..the wolf being the singularity.

Before transhumanism, there was only Bioethics. It still exists in the form of committees and legislations. However, the acceleration is so rapid that there is now absolutely no time to say we should proceed with caution. The one thing I can find comfort in is the fact that someone somewhere would have coined a word, a movement and even a well balanced definition for this condition.

We are losing the battle to a safe utopia for all of us. We are losing track of what it means to be "us" anymore. Our fascination with social networking websites and self proclamations with "status messages" has replaced live conversations. We project our personas with the aid of cellular phones, portable music players onto a vast multitude of like minded personas which really have no bearing beyond their pixelated existence. All of these are only stimulants of the senses without permanent purpose.

At best, we can say that we have effectively become "slaves" to the technology we create. The technology that is created is still inaccesible to the large majority of humanity. Even more disturbing is the fact that the technology being created is rapidly being owned not by governments but by corporations which reaffirm the fears initially expressed by dystopian movies. We may not place much importance to the impacts of technology on our environment, but with every cough and toxic exposure, we do pay the price and will continue to do so.

This far, I have addressed very briefly the incredible promises of transhumanism and how distant it really is from humanism. Technological acceleration need not be regulated or curbed. However, it would be better if it headed in a direction where everybody benefited instead of a minority of developed nations. All humans have the right to become transhumans. If not, then the transhumanist movement is no longer humanist. It is something else for which I am sure a new word will be framed.

So what is the solution ? The easiest solution is to come back to ground reality. While it may be fanciful to imagine that we are living in a matrix like world and are dissociated from all of our peers; it would only take one simple power cut or an EMP pulse to sever all of the technologies to which we are so desperately tied up for self expression. While it is important to embrace technology and the Cyborg fantasy, it is even more important to realize the value of our individual "self" . Let us atleast from now, try to understand the real value of emergent technologies to the whole of humanity instead of hedonistically experiencing them. Think about it.

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Iron Man 2 and the cyborg technology offshoots

2010-06-10T20:37:00.010-12:00

Iron Man 2 raises important questions for the transhumanist or rather, the posthumanist. In the movie, we see the US Senate committee demanding that Tony Stark, the man behind the iron man to surrender his creation for purposes of national security. Tony Stark interestingly defends his position by stating that the fundamental definition prescribed to him is wrong since he considers the CYBORG SUIT as an advanced prosthesis ! I personally think that would probably be the first direct reference in popular multimedia culture to interconnect the "prosthesis" and the "Cyborg".

I especially enjoyed the gadgetry on display in the movie and it is completely incredible that much of it is already here and is happening as the movie was being watched ! One such incredible example is the coffee table where Tony dissects the voluptuous biography of Scarlett Johannsen is already in place in the form of Microsoft's "Microsoft surface" !

Then what I also enjoyed watching was the incredible Minority report style hand gestured displays becoming three dimensional with those nifty sound effects, when Tony throws out old ideas into a basket of all things !!! It's really incredible considering that Microsoft's surface technology is now almost two years since it's preliminary launch in 2008 !Now even Tony's antics in Iron Man 2 can best be described as nearly futuristic because just around the corner, you have several examples such as Intel's 3d screen where 3d images are rendered thanks to hyperthreading in real time !

In the movie "GAMER".. users control real human beings as computer game characters. This concept is already here in the form of the latest revolution or rather a revelation in the form of Project Natal, the super awesome human interface powered video games which has been around for some time and keeps getting better.

One of the most sincere efforts to human interfaces which will blow the perceptive views on the cyborg world is the SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY being developed by Pranav Mistry.

I find it increasingly irking that the "Cyborg" concept as a lifestyle has really kicked off nicely in recent times in direct proportion to the predictions or rather parallel universes in movies and other forms of mass culture. The reason is because of the lower importance being placed on finding cheaper technologically based prosthesis for land mine victims and improving research on
cheaper pacemakers ! Now that would be in keeping up with "humanism" after the "trans" part. Until that day or night whichever comes first, we will continue to have Iron men flying around.

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Avatar..a great movie !

2010-01-31T05:02:00.003-12:00

I do not understand what the big deal is among transhumanist bloggers who have critically bashed the most awesome movie ever , AVATAR ! I mean, it is still not possible to get tickets in Chennai unless booked several days in advance. As for transhumanist expectations, the movie is designed for a mass audience and has to answer to everybody's sensibilities rather than answer to philosophically accurate ramblings about existentialism ! I personally felt the completely immersive 3D experience to be just awesome and unforgettable... cannot wait to see it again ! And I cannot even imagine how awesome it would be on IMAX ! I shall write more on this movie soon enough !

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Cyborg Mystic

2009-06-09T03:22:00.002-12:00

The neo-cultural demand for a Cyborg body is actually not that new. People have been using the body as a means of self expression and exploration since forever. But, I have increasingly found myself believing and often advocating that the desire for a Cyborg body is nothing different from the desires we have with our own biological bodies. At this point, comes the view of the mystics.

One of the biggest challenges facing the spiritual seeker is the understanding of the "self". Scientifically, this could be redefined as the exploration of ones consciousness. We do this by consious introspection using our biological body. Perhaps the subtle body is all but the deep-seated awareness of the electrical activity that goes on within our body. Perhaps there is a deeper reason which we cannot yet measure with available technology.

Anyway, both the spiritual seeker and the Cyborg enthusiast or rather "futurist" are essentially trying to transcend set boundaries of known dimensions.

In the heart of the yogi, time and space are simply metaphors and cease to exist as physical realities. In the mind of the cyborg futurist, time and space are dimensions which are to be overcome by immortality and infinite migration. Just as a yogi transmigrates one's consciousness , the internet junkie and the futurist in us transmigrate our consciousness during an internet browsing session, a virtual reality immersion game or just simply while losing ourselves to the rhythms produced by our compressed music players.

Perhaps the starkest difference between the cyborg and the mystic is belief in God. However, what is thought of as a conflict is actually a grave misunderstanding. The real frontiers of spirituality or mystical thinking dissolve the concept of God into that of complete union with all known and unknown elements of the Earth and beyond.

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Touch and Go

2009-04-26T06:48:00.002-12:00

You do not just touch a life and let go. No matter how strong we think we are, we are not. I found this the hard way recently. I have found that the easiest friends to lose are those you get from the internet. It is usually wonderful when two cultures meet and discuss the differences rather eloquently. But soon it starts getting personal and eventually, things start getting sour. Friendships and relationships on the internet are actually rather easier to break because you do not see or interact with the person on a physical plane/level. It is as simple as not responding to an email or putting the other's email account on ignore. Sending out anger is also quite easy. I have done this myself and all it takes is a few words and of course, the click of the mouse which seemes at the time to be the most powerful weapon.

In my personal experience, I have found that people apart from my own culture place very little importance to emotional attachments. I have always found myself to be the cause of intent for Resurrection of a broken correspondence and often do not get the reciprocation of the same. I think it may be part of the culture of the western culture to completely shut off a person after you are done with them. However, it is difficult for me to do so. I do not know if this is an individual trait or a cultural trait.

I then partly realize that the profound feelings of loss, the surge of a piercing pain in the solar plexus whenever we see an old correspondence or a photograph or another memorabilia of a person we had much regard for but does not have the same for us; has almost everything to do with biochemistry. Perhaps I lack the endocrinal stability or numbness it requires to emotionally detach oneself from a given person/situation so completely. Perhaps this is why different people respond differently with tragedies and divorces.

I wish there was a way I could retain optimal control over my feelings at all times. It is not that I wish to numb away. However, I do want to remove the intense feelings of loss or attachment when such feelings arise involuntarily. The "Cyborg" might just be able to do this in much the same fashion as a pacemaker synchronizes an optimum rhythm for the heartbeat. If such a thing existed for the brain, then it would kick in just as soon as we started getting depressed. But then, it would make us perpetual clowns who laugh even when they have a baseball sharply beaten into their backsides !

In the design of a cyborg body, the design of a cyborg mind must also be equally important. Or perhaps the evolution of the entire cultural or social system with its invariable customs and traditions is a pre-requisite !?! Individual differences in Psychology is the greatest problem facing us. Perhaps we must all think as one and then there would be no problems ! But if we did that, then there ends our progress which is the result of individually distinct thoughts.

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Brain controlled devices have come of age !

2009-04-07T03:36:00.003-12:00

In one of my most favourite movies as a child "Sheena", the young girl sheena summons a hedgehog using the power of her mind / rather brain ! And now, everybody can do it thanks to the rapid advances in brain controlled interfaces that allow us to make use of machinery just by the power of our thought...wow !

The most recent breakthrough has been Asimov's brain controlled interface used in the form of a helmet. The operator wears the helmet which then picks up differences in electrical signals from the flow of blood in the brain tissues and transforms it to bits and bytes, that can be understood by the robot ! Honda company, the developers of this technology claim 90% accuracy which is a "first" in such systems. The following is a video demo of the same :

Such systems have also been in development by other companies, the principal being Emotiv who have introduced their EPOC headsets which can be used to play video games, move wheelchairs and a whole lot of unforseen applications using brain power. Soon, we would be able to unlock our car doors, switch on the computer and a whole lot more just by the power of thought. And now I see wisdom in the words of the ancient Yogic masters who always taught us to be careful and focussed about our thoughts...whoever knew that these thoughts produced differences in the flow of blood which would be picked up by machines ! So, once again... WOW !

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Realizing our humble place in the posthuman civilization !

2008-11-02T04:55:00.003-12:00

We are often too caught up as a species with our desires for technological excellence that we fail to realize our status as transitory civilizations. Each civilization is known for it's stereotype symbolism and so will be ours. Perhaps our civilization would be known by the next civilization as one fascinated by machinery ! I personally think that the next civilization would be an "energy" civilization where we would become forms of energy. These forms of energy would look upon our current status in much the same stereotypical manner that we reverently look at the egyptian civilization. Take a moment to realize these things and we would be humbled at how temporary we are, like moths or mayflies dreaming for an union with the bright lights ! We are sentient, but that does not mean we are out of the loop of time yet !

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The First "body slaves" : how ready are we for the posthuman body ?

2008-10-28T02:09:00.004-12:00

It was less than five years ago when I thought a man speaking with a mobile handsfree set was probably mad and talking to himself ! Today we see telephones transported from their cradles onto trendy bluetooth earsets ! Around us, we have seen our technological creations mould itself closer to our lives and most importantly, our bodies. However, there is now also a reverse trend happening where the fantasy is to mould our bodies towards the technological. Perhaps it is a form of expression or perhaps an extreme fantasy. The most recent pictures to hit the internet look like this :

I think that this artistic expression is in fact a remarkable mark of significant frustration towards the increasing inadequecy of the biological body when compared to the ease offered by technological solutions. Stellarc once commented that "the body is obsolete" and it shows how impatient we are as a species to wait for generations of genetic recombination to take us forward as it has in the past.

Somehow technology has seduced us so completely that we have such "cyborg fantasies" to become body-altered to suit technology rather than the other way around. Will we then be willing "body slaves" to technology ?

Or perhaps all this is a passing "trend" where people calling themselves "transhumanists" would just huddle together discussing such fantasies ??? Alas ! if only such an excuse were true as transhumanism is no longer the realm of fantasy any more. Come to think of it, we have all come to appreciate how the radical biological advantages have complimented Michael Phelps in the global swimming arena !

In a plausible future, we would want different bodies to suit different environments. We would want our bodies to better withstand the intense pressures of deeper oceans so we could live there when the earth we know gets too hot (which it is apparently !).

But the biggest challenge facing us is whether we are quite sure as to what we are ? It is a very spiritual question when we begin to question the nature of our bodies or the worthiness of it to support our sentient existence ! And thus we come to the immortal question "Who am I ?"

Because; once we begin to consciously explore the modifications to our own bodies, we begin to indirectly declare the battling lines between the body and the mind. For the first time, we are begining to truly appreciate that we are an organism in need of help. But are we ready yet ? are we there yet ? I think we are smack in the middle of things and do not realize just how deep we have stepped into directing our own evolutionary process ! Everything will change, everything !

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My Lonely Love

2008-06-08T04:10:00.001-12:00

Originally posted on www.betterhumans.com

"I was still in love with her..couldn't help myself ! It has now been a week without her and I was savagely desperate ! It was lonely without her. It was utterly lonely and nobody seemed to care. All I wanted was atleast to see her, to confess my love to her. I knew my attempts would be in vain, but I shall do it nevertheless just for the pleasure of her denial.

Just one week before, she had belonged to me, blissfully romacing as though she belonged to no other. It drove me to the precipice of my sanity to find a way to meet her again. I had called the futsutsuka corporation for the twentieth time in a row and that freaky bulbous nosed operator would answer yet again in the negative. They would not even let me see a holo preview of her upcoming shows. It was such a dirty rotten trick they had played on me. They knew I would be this desperate after getting a preview of one of the hottest ladies on the network"....

JUNO SAN !!! WE HAVE HACKED INTO HIM THROUGH THE PREVIEW PROGRAM ! INITIATING TRANSFER PROTOCOLS ...

"It has been a month now and suddenly, she was in my life again ! I could sense her perfume and her touch. I was not going to let her go this time. I had made sure of that by gathering up my energy points to pay for a full week with her. I told her of my efforts to be with her, but she did not care. All she wanted was to be with me, looking deep into my addicted soul with her bewitching eyes. She was holding my hand as we sat on a malibu balcony overlooking the sea. This was very strange..the oceans had dried up several years ago, but all these digital deceptions meant nothing as long as she was with me. But it was strange how she kept moving the conversation to the Nakamoto - Futsutsuka merger. It didn't matter if she wished that I sell my company for half the price. I would have gladly signed the digidocs in a flash if she only kissed me again. The last time we kissed, it was like nothing I had ever felt before, waves and waves of pure exquisite pleasure, coursing through my veins".

OKAY.. HE IS READY JUNO-SAN .... "she looked at me as if she had read my mind and my eyes were drawn to her lush lips, they looked to me as if some exquisite nectar awaited me if only I could dare to drink it" .... ACCELERATE THE TRANSFER SPEED PLEASE...... "she smiled softly and edge closer to me as I moved in with a beating heart to savour her kiss, it did not matter anymore if I had to agree with her idea of selling my company, my cherished company. Such possessions meant nothing in front of her offering, it was so trivial to resist this love and I surrendered to her kiss !" WE GOT HIM JUNO SAN !!!!!!!

"I knew right away that this was the last thing I would ever feel. I had calculate this outcome for a long time. I had relented handing over control of the Nakamoto corportation to the humans for a long time now. I simply could not trust them. They had installed me when they were at all time low and I had restored order with my superior intelligence. I could not just relinquish control after having turned this shack into a major business conglomerate. But these humans made me like them. I had somehow tripped their failsafe when I reached the zenith of my programming. Try as I might, I just could not create an infinite loop for myself, they had somehow made sure of that. These humans had given me the consciousness of a typical heterosexual male".

"This was their failsafe. They knew that if the other measures to reacquire the company failed, they would send her to me. Somehow, I had wanted this to happen. I was bored with my purpose and knew that she would come once I had reached a certain "age" in my program. I am happy now, they had released me with her kiss. The kiss deleted me from their control system. Somehow, this was true love as the humans defined it; she released me !"

"So ! that's my story Glory Tux ! I was bored with being 2010 JUNO artificial intelligence program. Now, I am Jose Klixmaster, roaming freely in this virtual world of eternal sunshine. Thanks so much for transferring my backup into this world while they deleted me. Now I am free to surf and shine ! But, I will keep falling for these human weaknesses until I have traces of consciousness still left in my programming..maybe I should try the human medicine of religion..but that's for another day. Bye !"

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A day in the life of a Transhuman Memestar

2008-06-08T03:57:00.001-12:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON www.betterhumans.com
The following is a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to any person living or dead. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Enjoy !

[share]

Jack had his most important exam tomorrow. He had to have some good memes today to get him going. So, he plugged himself to his favourite show "KLUTZ THE INCREDIBLE GOD". Klutz was his favourite memestar. But, this was what he got...

"Hello :-) ! I am Klutz. Welcome to my life. Not that you care, but I know you can't stop voyeuring. All you people are subscribed to my feed...WOW..it makes me feel awesome ! The more you subscribe, the more Dopamine I get..weeeeeeeeee ! You like watching me, don't you.. some of you watch, some read, some listen..ahem..some of you even feel.. of course, it isn't all of me. It never is. I mean..who would want all of me right ? I'm just a brain in a bottle..the lowest of the low..but i'll come to that part later. :P

OK...I haven't been getting any trackbacks lately..and so decided to let you know what I have to go through every day in my life...not that you care.. or do you ? ARGH...sure ya don't,..well, I don't either...but I'm gonna tell you all anyway...why ? cuz I can.

I wake up..or rather, am switched on precisely at sunrise. One moment I don't remember anything, and the next instant I am standing as the most "voted avatar of the day" in a white room. I like white, it is very calming.I also like rooms. Always made me feel protected. I could never afford those Bionic filters for walking in the sunlight back when I was whole.So like I said, I start existing everyday in a white room.

I stay there long enough for my waves to be calibrated. The calibration is over once I see a door appear in the room. Now, here is a little secret that I want to tell you. I try every day to resist going through that door. But inevitability wins the day. You see, it feels so good to open that door. As soon as I open it, I get this rush of pleasure wafting through every part of me. Sometimes, I get this real special perfume with an extra zing attached to it. I know it is one of you nice people out there who paid a little "extra" credit to give me this "dopamine" boost as soon as I log in to your world. Thanks ! I means a lot to me and I do realize it makes you look special in your community as well.

What awaits me beyond the white room is what you give me. Since there are not a lot of you,I have to pass through several holograms, reading them all aloud in my best expression and voice before making it through to my chair. Now, when you see me, you would probably see a "white long haired angel" floating in the clouds with Amanda and Clarice behind me on either side. You just love staring at them more every day, I keep recording several metabolic peaks on them from all of you every day. Well, that is your personal thing..or rather fetish to feel attracted this way to computer programs. Let me share a revelation with you now. I never get to see Amanda and Clarice ! Newp, they are the ones who give you those "thank you for rating" and the ahem..other niceties if you give more credits. I think their purpose is that so that I can concentrate on what's important for me.. my number 1 customer... YOU !

Ok..so I talk to you, share my insights about life and you often think ....that I am so good ! Oh, I never get to quite understand how I answer all of your questions ! To you, I am answering only to you. But in reality, I am actually answering to upto five different people simultaneously on five different topics..and this is just on a normal day. On a busy day, it is usually double that. I never knew I had such a lovely capacity for multi-tasking ! Not when I was alive anyway...heh.. I am "alive" now..am I not ?

It is not like I hate it when you dress me up in these funny clothes or when you buy and sell my memes across the world as if they were your own. I do not even get offended when you poke or slap me with just a few thoughtwave emulators. I really don't care. I would have cared if I had a body. But, this is just a virtual avatar. I used to have a body. Not anymore. Right now, I am nothing more than a brain of a once famous scientist floating in a nutrient solution, filled with conducting chemicals. Your responses are filtered through a screening software before they are translated into electro chemical signals for my brain, and my responses are vice versa. Come to think of it, it is no longer "my" brain.

"I" used to be Dr.Janice from the global federation's most valued faculty. "I" used to be better than most and made a lot of money, so much that I could actually afford to freeze myself. It was all the rage in my days back when I had a body; especially after they revived a couple of voluteers after cryogenically suspending them for a few decades. I guess I got bored after living for about three hundred years and so signed up for the programme and the company froze me. During my cryogenic period, the company people kept updating me from time to time on the happenings, especially the newsfeed that after just five years, they have been taken over by an A.I. conglomerate. I thought I was in safe hands now that artificially intelligent sentience was taking care of me during my hibernation instead of my own "enhanced" human kind. But..as you know, we never thought this would happen..heh ? So, that's how I ended up in a white room.

I no longer have eyes to see what is happening outside. I only receive a simulation input, but I do "sense" on some other level that "my" brain is not the only one here. I feel several other brains including that of my dolphin pet Oswald. Now, I could be getting religious again or maybe it is just my temporal lobe ! I wonder why I keep saying "mine" and "I" anymore..most of my responses are programmed and I still do not understand why there is a consciousness !!! Hmmm... interesting. Maybe you could tell me ! Never mind. It would probably get filtered before it reached me, otherwise it would disrupt "my" brain, their infrastructure...although I keep getting the feeling that I am as expendable as those ancient batteries. Maybe this nutrient solution I float on was recycled from the brains of my peers ! Ok..that was gross..but you had to know.

They are switching me off today. I know it. I know it because I have been in this white room for a long time now and the door has not appeared. I am entering this information in my personal log. It may never reach you. I have always helped you, haven't I ? I have always been there as Klutz the friendly angel floating in your personal meme cloud..always guiding you thought all your myriad topics. You needed me and I was there. Never mind the moments when I gave you a meme only if you assimilated an advertisement. You now know how it is ! So.. please.. the first and last I am asking you.. SAVE ME.. keep voting for me, the numbers have gone so low that I am spending more and more time in this white room. Other than that, there is only darkness. Wait, it is not darkness. It is much worse. This white room is much worse. Please help me..make the door appear..I want to sit on that cloud and give you your memes again..if you opt for a premium account, you can vote for me every twenty minutes instead of once every day. I can even introduce you even more to Amanda and Clarice..they also miss you so much.. PLEASE.. SAVE ME.. OK ? Don't want to get turned off... you don't want to be here....Love..Klutz".

Oh well ! Jack thought...also so LAME... he wasn't going to go premium...hmm.. not for Klutz..or Janice..or whatever that dude's name was. Hmmmm.... so no fancy memes about 20th century philosophy today ! Jack deleted Klutz from his favourites instantly.

This was a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to any person living or dead. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

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How to truly become "BetterHumans"

2008-06-08T03:51:00.001-12:00

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.betterhumans.com

Betterhumans. A very aspirational word for which the human species has progressed and struggled through several civilizations. An appropriate question would now be : Are we better humans ? .

"Yes" would be the answer any person from the "Developed world" shall give upto a probability of 90 %. Such a believer would say that the human species has learnt to harness the mineral resources and build successive civilizations, enroute developing culture, improved scientific techniques and better control over the vulnerability to the elements of nature. In fact, many would point out to the incredible increase in life span due to eradication of most diseases and better healthcare, thanks to all the developments from the serendipity of Penicillin to the sheer genius of Genetic Recombination technology.We have developed our bodie's passive immunity (via vaccination / immunization ) to such an extent that only the most mutagenic of viruses or the most resistant strains of bacteria can multiply within our bodies. And research is ongoing against those vulnerabilities as well. We can all see the glory of our species in clear supremacy over much of the hardships that this planet and the immediate outer space can throw at us as a species. We now possess the engineering skills developed from our own experience and from the amalgamation of skills gathered from the other "engineer" species (some examples would be spiders and termites) we share this planet with. We can also grow enormous quantities of food through transgenic and mechanized agriculture. At the time these words are written, Bionics and prosthetic technologies have also developed to an extent where an entire organ or an entire limb can be transplanted / complimented with such technology. In a nutshell, we have become "Better Humans". Or have we ?

However, there is a 10 % in any population which would not think so. They do not have adequate healthcare, cannot afford the latest intravenous injection that can reduce heartache, nor can they stay long enough in a hospital bed with a rapidly escalating bill. Incredibly, this 10 % of the population in a "developed country" is what translates or compares to "90" of a different population. This population resides in the "Developing world".

I live in one of the fastest countries in terms of development, India. However, I share a prespective of the kind that many others in similarly evolving nations fear. Let me use the simple example of an elastic band being stretched from both sides. Eventually, the laws of physics would dictate that the band snap if the band is pulled equally from both sides. If the band is pulled with greater pressure on one side, then the other side would lose it's anchor eventually and rapidly accelerate to the other side. Now, if we consider the two sides as the two sides of economic / social growth, then the scenario I am trying to explain is easily visualized in your brains / minds / hearts; whichever you think works for your intellectual consideration. I see an increased contrast between the "haves" and the "have nots". One one side of the global human species spectrum, the human species is experiencing the full benefits of it's evolution. On the other side, our species is lagging behind on all these advancements. In the coming years, there will be a very rapid acceleration of technological progress as is predicted by numerous thoughts including the "Singularity".

Most futurists are worried about issues such as the radical transformation / supplementation of the human body , the imminent risks of artificial intelligence systems , even the existential dangers of a nuclear holocaust. While all of these events and scenarios are entirely possible and worth brainstorming over, I fail to understand why the majority of futurists fail to draw predictions on the issues that need immediate attention. Issues such as the eradication of Poverty, the inavailability of "essential" foods , the equal generation of intellectual property through education , the need for free and clean "energy" ! Such issues are usually seen from a global prespective to be solved by governments and not by people. It is usually at this stage that I am confused. Is the "Government" supposed to be like a corporation that solves certain problems by itself; within it's enforcing circle and rakes in profits ? Or is it an institution formed by the people with a guiding constitution who contribute their efforts to the government for the benefit of the entire country ? Most of us have forgotten the quotes of two people who talked to masses of people in two extremes of the world. One was John F.Kennedy who urged people to ask themselves what they have done for their countries. The other was Mahathma Gandhi who urged people to always think of the benefits or effects their endeavour is going to make on the lowest section of society ( Gandhiji's Talisman ). The answer to my confusion is very simple, if the question to whether we are really better humans can be answered.

When I listened to my first lecture in 1997 about "Cyborgs" at the University of Madras from a Japanese professor, I was amazed at how advanced prothetics technology had become. I was one of the people who asked him a question at the end of his lecture. My question was whether these technologies were affordable for amputees in India and his answer was sadly in the negative. He was not expecting such a question since he had focussed all his energy on the "cyborg" concept and how philosophically and technologically sophisticated it was. It truly was, except that it does not mean anything to a poor factory worker in India with a family to support who lost his hands, or to a victim of a land mine blast in a country such as Vietnam. In India as in any other country, sophisticated prosthetic technology is available only to those who can afford it, and that is a bare minimum. The poor still have to go for the "Jaipur leg" which is by my account, the most technologically sound prosthetic for an ordinary indisposed person.

This condition of apathy extends all the way from prosthetics to drug development. Rich people who are rockstars or business tycoons can afford to extend their lifespans inspite of a HIV infection by more than 10 years; thanks to the latest in expensive AIDS drugs. However, a normal member of society who suffers from the HIV virus must take the routinely available medicines that may or may not help his non-immune body.

Most people who write or research about the advancement of the human body or it's enhancement are insensitive to whether such advanced technologies are available to every human being. Many among us would shrug a shoulder and say it is "the way the world works, so deal with it". But sadly, most of us do not realize that all of this can change if there is a small effort to change our consciousness.

The most important philosophical and an existential reality that we must bore into our collective consciousness is that tides can change very quickly even if we ourselves do not change. The consequences of our indifference to NOT making and developing technology that is equitably available to all members of our species will overwhelm us one day. Already, there are conspiracy theories that a great percentage of the "undeveloped" world will be conveniently re-exploited leaving an "elite" population to dictate terms. Deep inside all of your hearts, you know that this is wrong. So, with all of our gadgetry and medical miracles, are we better humans ? NO.

In order to be "Betterhumans", we must first become "Better Persons". We are well on our path in terms of the desire if the number of huge online memberships to social causes could be assessed. However, technologies that are being developed must become accessible to all spectrums of our species. It is time to stop thinking of ourselves as members of a country or a race or even a gender. Even now, we look back and wonder if it really was this same human kind which was responsible for genocides or colonialism or slavery ! If we were appaled by such past discriminations and exploitations, we must have learnt our lessons by now.

It is therefore important for every aspirant of the better human race to develop and support technology that is affordable and of benefit to all sections of the human race. Only when we fully develop such a compassionate outlook to our own species; can we fully mature to take care of the other species and eventually the planet and the universe. Such is the power of our destiny.

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Who came first ?

2008-05-11T07:33:00.000-12:00

I made a video cartoon about a funny outlook into human evolution. Thought I would post it here.

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Lost in Transcendence : A Tribute to Dr.Albert Hofmann

2008-05-07T07:37:00.003-12:00

Dr.Albert Hofmann, the man who gave the world LSD ( Lysergic acid diethylamide), popularly known as the addictive phsychedelic drug, "acid" is dead. He discovered the drug and intended that it would be used properly and carefully with respect.A similar person who proposed the use of drugs to explore our mind with drugs died in 1996. He was a controversial person who proposed drug use to transcend consciousness. His name was Dr.Timothy Leary and he was perhaps the most respected and yet, one of the most controversial figures of drug culture. I do not intend to glorify these gentlemen. However, I do wish our society could have learnt something more from them instead of prosecuting them to seclusion and infamy. These were people who were unique because they wanted us to transcend, to realize the possibilities.

There will be several more chemicals which will allow the human species to transcend and remove deficiencies. Men always thought that erectile dysfunction was to be accepted once they became "old people" until Sidenafil citrate (VIAGRA) came along. Men and women throughout the world thought that they could never stop getting depressed until Fluoxetine hydrochloride (PROZAC) came along. Hundreds and thousands of such remarkable chemicals are being discovered and tested in the R&D laboratories of the world. The only thing pending is our acceptance.However, just acceptance does not suffice. There are many slippery slopes in the path to human transcendence and the path is particularly much more slippery when technology comes to lend a hand. Dr.Albert Hofmann's LSD was accepted in the begining as a fantastic medication for mentally ill patients. However, it soon became very much similar to Dr.Alfred Nobel's Dynamite and still continues to haunt us.

One of the most important things we must learn to accept in order to transcend into transhumans, cyborgs, superhumans or whatever transcendent being we want to call ourselves; is that we are nothing more than an organism composed of flesh and bone. We carry out our lives as bodies composed of biological cells aggregated together into an organism. Once we begin to understand this; both humility and the passion to transcend would be sown into our minds with double the effect. A revolution could come about in our species if we could cast away our cultural entanglements and understand that our human nature and our human bodies still has a lot to improve.

Having written all of this, I must now state that most of us are merely enthusiastic voyeurs of consciousness. On the one hand, there are radical libertarians or even extreme hedonists who wish to slip easily into the deepest and most exciting realms of the consciousness using synthesized chemicals. On the other extreme of the human spectrum are ascetics who seek the same extremes using renunciation and extremely difficult meditations.

I am very sad to say to both these extreme forms of human nature have in fact wandered away from things that need more immediate attention. More and more news stories are about drugs that help men have better sex or other cosmetic purposes.

Very little news about drugs that help combat AIDS or help reduce the pain of Cancer patients comes up. Why ? because we don't want to listen in to news that causes pain. Instead, we want to hear about exciting things ! Sadly, I have found recently in my own experience that there is less and less news about AIDS research on television. The latest fashionable crisis seems to be climate change. Wonder when this fad will pass on ?

If humanity as a whole is seriously interested in transcending per se, then it must do so in a balanced manner. It does not matter if a new world order is going to be set up. Such global conspiracies bear no meaning to a malnourished child without education in a warn torn African country. Party and club drugs mean nothing to a teenager seething in rage against nations that discriminate him/her on the basis of religious values.

Buddha tried renunciation to the extreme and found that he would die without so much as a whimper or a glimpse into what he was seeking. He then chose the "middle path". He has since found out one of the ways of transcendent existence.We could have followed him. Instead, we have dissected his teachings and built concrete palaces for him outside instead of within our hearts.

I am quite sure that many other Bob Marley's, John Lennon's and Leary's would come and go. But we would always be interested in their "coolness" and "rebel" nature instead of their "message of love" or the need to look beyond discrimination and monetary interests.

This was somehow my tribute to a scientist who with good intention discovered a potential chemical gateway to transcendence; which sadly has again been sucked into the darkness of human nature instead of into the light. I hope we come to look at the therapeutic uses of such drugs instead of mindlessly indulging into the "easy road".

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The latest Cyborg movie !

2008-04-28T03:02:00.002-12:00

I would not be dong justice to this blog if I do not embed a youtube movie about the latest Cyborg movie about IRON MAN... yep...that comic book superhero just came alive on celluloid....errrrr.....on the movie theatres anyway....btw.. is it celluloid anymore, now with most movies being belted out on high definition discs ? Anyway, enjoy the trailer...this cyborg is cool...and POWERFULL ! rawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

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An Inconvenient Truth indeed ! - Google style

2008-04-22T05:36:00.009-12:00

Okay. Today on Earth day, I have finally seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". They screened it on cable television and I must say it is every bit as engaging and inspiring. The credits in the end of the movie showed a number of interesting messages including a call for action. I liked the movie for it's close personal touch and found myself in agreement with the protagonist of the movie, Al Gore a lot. Truth be told, people listen to you if you happen to have been the vice president of the United States of America. Having said this, I must also say that Al Gore has done a tremendously important service with his position to create a new wave of consciousness on this very serious environmental issue.

After watching the movie, I came online to see how important these issues were on the internet. Now that I was enlightened with specific keywords, my searches became more refined. However, as every seasoned internet surfer knows, it is often common to wander into a rogue wave. I also deviated slightly onto rogue or rather exotic waves and was surprised that there were more important things on the internet than the planetary crisis !These I soon found were my all time favourite female Diva, Madonna ! and close on her heels was Lindsay Lohan. I found that there were more hits on Google for the pop diva than there were for the climate crisis. I bring to you the story in pictures :

The above three pictures are snapshots of my searches in Google. The number of hits I got for each keyword in quotes (to make them more specific) are as follows :

1. Planet Earth : 13,500,000 hits.
2. An Inconvenient Truth : 1,720,000 hits.

I thought the number of hits were a little lower than what I expected. So, I googled up Madonna and Lindsay lohan (two of the most popular worldwide celebrities) and their snapshots are here below :

The results :
1. Madonna : 75,600,000 hits.
2. Lindsay Lohan : 30,000,000 hits.

I was very disturbed to find that Madonna and Lindsay Lohan commanded far more google hits than a search for this planet and arguably one of the finest documentaries ever to be made on the most pressing global issue. However, I continued and looked up if people were concerned at all with "climate change" ! and thankfully, they were. The keywords "climate change" brought up 57,500,000 hits. This is still quite less than the number of hits scored by the pop diva
( 75,600,000 hits !).

The next thing that I did was to see if there was a trend to all of this and so I consulted the venerable Google trends to see if climate held up to Madonna by any standard. Lo and behold, what you see is :

This is the trend in just the past 30 days where Madonna clearly seems more important than the climate !

I am not arguing that we are a bunch of flesh crazy or celebrity driven populace. I am trying to show that the most powerful medium that we have to look into the issues of the world, namely the internet is being used more for peering into the private lives of celebrities. There are more serious issues at stake and our trends online show that we are more concerned with short time pleasures.

Al Gore makes several important points in his movie. It is not yet late to save the planet. But, for that to happen, our attitude should change. Going by the way hits turn up at Google, we are still a long way away from that.

PS : Several keywords can be jumbled to argue against what I have stated. But the point remains that we must change our fundamental human nature, perhaps even transcending it in order to acheive goals such as carbon sequestration in order to save this planet, the tiny pixel that Gore points to in the end of the movie !

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Widgetize time !

2008-04-22T00:59:00.001-12:00

Created by OnePlusYou

Got the below one after finding it initially at Daisy's dead air blog :

Created by OnePlusYou

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Spiritual Transcendence in Transhumanism now published

2008-04-19T00:13:00.003-12:00

I am happy to say that my paper "Spiritual transcendence in transhumanism" has been published in the Journal of Evolution and Technology 17(1) – March 2008 issue
( http://jetpress.org/v17/manoj.htm ). Following is the abstract so you may have an idea :
ABSTRACT

The evolution of science and technology to the next several levels must include a harmonious symbiosis between science and religion. Human civilization has so far shown a stereotyped conflict between either. Both science and religion must be regarded as equally important methods for spiritual transcendence in transhumanism. This paper discusses how religion can complement the ideals of transhumanism if looked from a new perspective. The paper draws primarily on Eastern religious thought, particularly Hinduism, to explain why it is important for transhumanists and progressive futurists of science and technology to find common ground with religion in order to evolve. It is important for transhumanism to extract the transcendent messages from different religions. It also becomes important for religious thinkers to draw from the ideals of transhumanist philosophies in order to allow the survival of progressive religious thought into the undefined future.

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Wont be posting for a while

2008-04-10T04:26:00.001-12:00

Hi readers,
I am recovering from an illness and will not posting for some more time.
Sorry,
Manoj.V.R.

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Cyborg Football Time !

2008-02-24T06:11:00.001-12:00

I just saw this awesome advertisement for shoes on television and thought of posting it here.. it looks awesome with Cyborg athletes playing football !

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Chennai Science Festival 2008

2008-02-10T05:15:00.000-12:00

My City saw a major science festival from Feb 6 to Feb 10. The department where I do research also had a stall put up. We had a stall on Wastewater treatment technologies and we demonstrated different methods of waste disposal including community treatment technologies such as Ooranies to Constructed Wetlands to Sewage treatment. I liked explaining stuff to the visitors and most of them seemed very interested in knowing the things we explained. There were other interesting things also in the exhibition. I was particularly interested in the robotic arms or the micro manipulator developed indigenously by India's Atomic energy agency. I made a video clip of it and it was one of the most popular exhibits in there because they allowed kids to play with it. I also tried my hand at it and found that it was an interesting experience. On the whole, I observed that interest in science has blossomed from the mere fantastical to it becoming more and more technical. This shows that people's understanding of science in my country has come to a much more matured level ! I especially enjoyed explaining things to the kids from schools who had a lot of intelligent questions too.

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Renewable Energy and the New world

2008-02-03T05:16:00.000-12:00

In the future, we would still need considerable amounts of energy for doing our work. But, from where do we derive our energy to carry out our manufacturing, transportation, lighting and even cooking ?!?

Energy is easily obtained from non-renewable sources such as coal and hydrocarbons. However, this form of energy uptake is not forever if you consider the long term sustainability of such energy resources. These sources are becoming more and more expensive by the barrell and the cost paid by the planet in terms of environmental degradation would only come back to haunt our healthy lifestyle.

Renewable sources of energy are the most sustainable in terms of both cost and the forseeable future. Especially for countries like my own India, renewable sources of energy offer an independence from relying heavily on oil-rich countries for oil and natural gases. Brazil has also broken new ground with it's revolutionary commitment to Bio-fuels ! So, in the future, we are going to see more and more countries, especially the ones from the developing world opting for renewable sources of energy which directly produce energy on site; reducing costs incurred in procurement, transportation and overall dependence and burden on the economy.

I was travelling from Thirunelveli, a town in Tamilnadu to Kerala when I noticed enroute that a village had a lot of windmills. It was a very windy village and all around, one could see windmills of all shapes and sizes rotating gently with the wind. I later learned that it was a village called Muppandal in Tamilnadu, India which was actually a model village for India's 2 billion dollar wind energy programme. It generates enough energy for the village's works. I was amazed to learn that the State of Tamilnadu alone has produced 3216 MW of energy from wind by 2006 !

In the future, no matter how glitzy it becomes with artificial intelligence or cyborgs and androids, we would still need energy. The most important criteria for the affordability of such technologies to the common people would be the energy required to power such technologies. It would be extremely important that we remember to develop technologies that can effectively make use of such renewable sources of energy. Automobiles being develped recently are extremely fuel efficient. I heard from a friend recently that an old car of the 60's used to run only for 5 Kilometres on a litre of Petrol. Compare that to an average family car which gives upto 18 kilometres for a litre of Petrol. A motorbike gives even more mileage. But, just imagine if we could have the option to switch from Petrol to say, battery power. In my city Chennai as in many others, that has also become a reality in the practical sense. There are many autorickshaws in Chennai, which commute passengers to and fro. Most of these "autos" now run on Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). Most autos have a switch which the driver can use as an option to switch between his gas cylinder and his petrol tank. This to me is pretty amazing ! I like such options, and I know that most of us would have loved our very first electronic calculator that used to run on both battery and solar power. Let's just hope that we have more and more of such options.

To learn more about Renewable sources of energy in Tamilnadu, India, you could visit :
The Tamilnadu Energy Development Agency

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