Fiction:Mind, Body And Machine, An Essential Trinity

Written by Therio Kriste, professor of biotechnology at Solsio Academy, Bunsen. vol. 24, iss.31 of New Innovation.

It happens in every society when the advancement of boinic technology reaches an extent that the idea emerges to graft the machine onto their bodies. Questions arise regarding morality, the consequences, the age old "is it right?" or "Has science gone too far?" but in truth, maybe it is outlook that drives this?

One theory that the population of the devised is that the organic, inorganic and mental concepts of reality are all aspects of one interconnected trinity. The following quote is part of the explaination to the original idea.

"When one looks at a eukaryotic cell, it is merely a transluicent mass with its form defined by the strength of its membrane and the pressure held against it by its neightbours. Inside however, are factories, processing centres and wired networks; nature had created power stations long before sapients realised they could harness the kinetic potential of steam or the flow of water to generate an electric current.."

- Arralon Viste - Machines of Flesh And Fluid

Arralon was a microbiologist, and while not a visionary, I believe he had a point. At the fundamental level what difference is there between a rechargable battery and a sub-cellular mitochondrion? Both generate energy though chemical reactions, both require a supply of material and both put out enormous amounts of energy ,enough to power whatever it is they are connected to. The main difference however, is that the battery has a hard casing made of plastic or possibly a silicon compound, while the mitochondrion is made up of a polymer-like sheet compounds...so there is no real difference when you look deep enough. I believe that the cause of this division comes form instinct; machines aren't flexible, they're made of hard compounds like steel and plastic wheras organic structures are made of more malleable combinations like mucus. Understandable but mucus itself is essentially a lubricant or protective layer.

But how does this link with mind? Well, the fundamental source of intelligence is processing power. If something can process information it is considered sentient, although there is an enormous difference between a sentient insect and a sentient computer - both can think, but they are still driven by a set of programs. The more processing power a device has, the smarter it becomes until eventually there is enough powerfor the device to make choices based not on a set of values or a flow diagram, but something far more complex: Free will. Cells do have intelligence; microtubules serve not only as a skeleton but also a distribution network in the form of chemicals; RNA, ATP, that kind of thing. It also serves as an electronic network as microtubules are photoconductive not unlike the fibre-optic wire. So cells do have a base processing power that allows them to "decide" what proteins need to be produced next and where to send them. Also the microtubules' photoconductive properties may relate to the profileration of telepathic abilities in larger organisms when combined with quantum mechanics and interdimensional travel.

AIs are an "inorganic" example of the trinity; the inorganic material casing and the structure of the internal components allows for the electronic or quantum processes to manifest themselves in this mineral medium, resulting in the machine being able to process data from outside sources. To put in simpler terms, here are the three principles and how they interact to create a living entity
 * Body - The entity's shell; requires machine in order to be an active entity; nothing more than a reactive mass without mind.
 * Machine - The entity's processes; requires body in order to have a medium to exist within; requires mind in order to perform non-reactionary tasks
 * Mind - The entity's sense of processing and potential intelligence; cannot exist without body; requires machine in order to exist.

Take away one of these components and you no longer have an entity capable of thought or processing. So this concept can not only apply to life but also to intelligent constructs; a bionic arm or an artificial heart require the same things as any flesh-and-blood organism. This was the theory that provided the catalyst for the Theians' biosynthetic revolution, it put forward the suggestion that the addition of a bionic arm is not a form of artificial graft in favour of an improvement, but an example of organic-inorganic "symbiosis" (a term my species have called anthilomifelim, which translates as "bionic-tissue unity") if one wishes to see it that way. Not everyone will, but we all have our opinions.

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