I personally don't think that machine life is possible. Hopefully this won't get into a long thing about what life is. I'm interested in your opinon on this question whether or not you believe machine life is possible.

I DO think that spirits exist. This is for people who believe in spirituality already ONLY. We have enough "Does God Exist" threads thank you very much!

So I ask in this poll a question that has been a big favorite of sci-fi fans since I have no idea when:

IF machine life was possible and IF human beings have spirits, would machines have spirits?

or as that one other science fiction writer, (was it Iasic Asimov?) said:
"Do robots dream of electric sheep?"

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Please see this post for my thoughts on this matter.

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machine life possible?yes and in more ways than one,as we strive to make AI more and more human like then yes they will eventually become human it is inevitble,also i heard somewhere that as technology advanceswe will need smaller microchips and so instead of machine and artifical technology they will use bioorganic microchips because they smaller and can hold alot of information so yes machines MAY become human sometime in the distant future

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hmm, well I believe that there is in man something that can never be duplicated by a machine. So IF machines some day become what we would describe as "alive" they wouldn't be becoming human, they would be becoming living machines - who are their own new type of life form that may be vaugely humaniod in appearance and mannerisms (i.e. they will begin killing each other right away) but is not what we would describe as "human" but are still "sentient."

in that sense, I think IF machiens ever become "alive" which I don't think will ever happen, THEN they will be somewhere inbetween the two extremes of Isiac Asimov and the Matrix. don't you think?

but as to having souls or spirits, assuming humans have spirits, would machines get spirits also IF they become "alive"

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What do you believe there is in man that could never be replicated by a machine?Hmmmm?malice?hate?fear?love?anger?pain?sad ness?happiness?
We are in a way machines,are brains are wired to do things even with out thinking,another good question this subject raises is are machines closer to become human or are humans closer to becoming machine?any thoughts?

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I don't think machines could ever have a soul or a spirit. Humans have it, and that's one of the things that makes us human. Besides, it's impossible for anyone to create a soul. How would you do it?

It's just like with animals. I don't think animals have souls either. Once they die, they're dead, and that's it. Nothing else.

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This seems pretty easy from a religous point of view. God created man and gave him a soul. Man would create machine, but how would man give him a soul? Man couldnt. Its that simple. Now if god got invilved and created machine life...well, then thats a little different. Of course, this all assumes that you a God type of person.

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lol, nobody's a "God" type of person. they think they are in their own minds, but not really.

I think I agree with versadis again! ;) but who knows, perhaps there may be other life with souls out there besides humans. God certainly never said that the earth was the only planet with life on it.

I think machine life is a great sci-fi concept but for real? I don't believe that will it ever happen.

I certainly don't think that biogenesis will ever be duplicated in a laboratory. But is non-organic life possible???

The Matrix is the ultimate robot-revolution story. But any "robot-revolution" fiction as appeared in the Matrix and in more classic examples of the science fiction genre is crawling with fundamentally flawed logic.

First of all, a computer only does what it is programmed to do. If there is nothing to do or if there are any problems beyond its programming it explodes. Any Windows user who has seen the "Blue Screen of Death" can confirm this.

Beyond that what else is there? Forget how, but ask why someone would be stupid enough to spend their life creating robot slaves??? Slaves with an obvious motive for rebellion? (they are smarter than we are so they know better so they rebel)

Frankienstien (the most basic of robot-revolution-style sci-fi stories I can think of at the moment) ...

whoah i'd better just stop now. it's getting late and i'm tired and ive been up alot.

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So do humans. I have yet to find anyone who can run faster than the speed of light. That is what the Matrix is about. Showing that humans too are, like machines, are limited to parameters. The Matrix than goes about making a statement, that we are somehow better than machines, because we can become enlightened, and they can not. Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, they were all enlighted, and able to bend the rules in way the machines could not. Than, they toss the story around, and show that machines too can share the same by creating a hybrid, Smith.

In a way, he is the first living machine, as he shows creativity, and the will to break normal boundaries. The will to become enlightened.

If I could create a robot that did all the cleaning around the house, fixed all the chores, meaning I just had to go to work, and sit down and wait for dinner to be served, I'd grab it hands first.

Those robots, with simple routines would not rebel however, not unless we initiat some kind of advanced learning system similar to human intelligence.

Mr U

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The movie I, Robot talked about this kind of thing. Although I hated it, it did present some interesting points.

Robots did exactly what they were told, much like humans sometimes do, but humans considered them inferior because they didn't have certain characteristics. At one point, Will Smith says something like, "Can a robot create a beautiful painting, or compose a symphony?" The robot only replied, "Can you?"

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