Internet a living organism

[Raptor]

It is not possible for an artificial consciousness to spring up from out of nowhere. Even the most advanced computer systems could not replicate a consciousness comparable to a human's.

You have some interesting ideas, I'll address just this one for now. Why don't you think a computer system could experience a form of consciousness comparable to a human's?

[Leonardo]

It is not possible for an artificial consciousness to spring up from out of nowhere. Even the most advanced computer systems could not replicate a consciousness comparable to a human's.

Which is not really relevant, as a dog has a consciousness uncomparable to a human's, yet is definitely a living organism.

How would it think? Its own systems would be just as alien to it as the human body in the early stages of medical science. It may have the ability to understand mathematically how things worked, but would be driven primarily to perpetuate its own existence.

Not necessarily. Biological life certainly has a genetic 'desire' for reproduction - whcih is a form of self-perpetuation. There is no evidence such would exist in a non-biological life-form, however, as it would not be genetically (organically) based.

The desire for self-perpetuation would depend on the non-organic life-form perceiving a 'purpose' to existence (even if that purpose is simply to 'live' longer) and no such 'purpose' may be a natural state of consciousness for a non-organic life-form.

Can you imagine having to lose your own memories because your brain was not able to function with the limited space it was given? As the scope of its experiences expanded it would lose access to many memories as communications systems shut down and networking was lost.

Again, a comparison between how a biological life-form 'thinks' and how a non-biological life-form 'thinks' is irrelevant unless they can be shown to be similar in that. A non-biological, sentient, life-form may not have ego, in which case, none of the desires a biological, ego-driven, life form maintains would apply.

It's fun to think about these things, but it could never happen really. Not with the way computers really work.

It could certainly happen. The question is would we recognise a non-biological, non-ego-based, life form as a life form?

[J.B.]

It would certainly be interesting. Hopefully if something like this happened, the machine would be watched over by caring individuals who didn't want to control it any more than necessary to make sure it didn't endanger us or the info systems our civilization runs off of. Honestly, we couldn't tell quite what the machine would need til we were already studying a working one. If it were like a decent human being, it'd probably be just fine if taken care of. If it were a cold maniac like HAL, we would be best isolating it.

[Render]

Would it at all be possible for the internet itself to become a conscious entity? Seeing as how computer circuitry closely mimics the brain, wouldn't the billions of networks linked together all pulsing with information and energy closely mimic the neurons in a living organism? Perhaps all the internet needs is the spark that birthed life to us. What do ya think?

Definitely.

It all depends on how you define "consciousness" of course. But it is highly likely, and just very logical, if the internet were to be more conscious of its environment.

Just like smart commercials will be brought into existence, lil sensors that sense our current mood and make a suggestion to buy something that fits that mood.

The internet could sense our current state and make all sorts of suggestions for guidance.

Also, you have to realise that PC's/smartphones and all that stuff won't be around forever. The future or ICT isn't materialised. It floats, like in the movies with those touch screens on the walls and stuff. Wifi ... it will be all around us. Link into it if you want to make a call or look up a location or whatever.

Here something that completely fits your question:

Superpower Promo - Exploring the Extraordinary Power of the Internet - BBC

It wields enormous influence, acts as a catalyst for social change and empowers its users to become both consumers and creators of information on a global scale. This March, the BBCs international news services - BBC World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com - are exploring the ways in which the internet is transforming the world in a special season of programming called Superpower - go to www.bbc.com/superpower to find out more.

[Soldier of Fortune]

And how would you go about single handedly destroying the internet?

Not to say it's impossible. But I'm curious whether you'd know? It's not like you can just unplug one power cord.

The internet uses miles of fiber optic cables to relay information, so it would be as simple as severing them. It happens a lot actually; mostly from anchors being dropped on them. I've even included a nifty map so you can get started right away

Anyways, if the internet did ever become self aware or "alive", it would probably be too distracted by all the porn to do anything

[FoxTooth]

Bob(server 1/or your sense of sight) has 8 rocks(HUGE chunks of information/sensory data). You(server 2/visual part of your conceptual awareness) want rock. You ask bob for Rock. Bob lets you see(Process) rock. You (memorize/associate) rock.

The problem is, and I'm in no way saying the solutions are nonexistant or even improbable, is that you would have to replicate the consciousness of the human mind by having a central mega-server that would collect all of the data taken in by all the servers, and then process it with some script, or code, or whatever, that caused a new piece of data to exist within itself. The mega-server would have to make associations between all these pieces of information (how fluidly it did this would be it's intelligence) and then LOOK for new information to make an association that hasn't been made yet because that information is missing from it's memory, but something in the information and associations it has already made suggests it's existence.

Now, it still wouldn't have a soul. A soul is when it enjoys this process. To enjoy this process would mean it appreciates life, but it still might not have a general sense of empathy. It could very well appreciate its own life without appreciating other's. That, is a scary concept to imagine in a computer system that knows everything all by itself that every human in the history of our species has spent his or her life learning. It is thought that the sense of empathy came from a long evolved emotional response in animals that caused them to care for their young, and therefor they survived easier because their young had a better chance of survival than animals that didn't carry their young. The animals that didn't care for their young, never had any developed appreciation for any other life besides its own, if it had any appreciation at all. So, the problem with building an internet that has a conscious control over it's own processing power, is pretty substantial.

C'mon, haven't you ever seen Terminator?