The comment from Maddie on my post, Supreme being of them all! got me perplexed. When I had posed the question, I had thought about only biological beings. But his comment on artificial intelligence forced me to contend with intelligent machines too. The first question to answer is then: Should they be considered inclusively in the “beings” class?
Although I find accepting this extremely difficult, the more I think, the more I convince myself to say “Yes”. Artificial intelligence allows machines to think and learn. It allows them to interact with everyday objects seamlessly, make decisions based on past experiences and so on. These are cognitive abilities that so far have been restricted to biological beings with a somewhat evolved brain. A bacteria in comparison is far less intelligent (though it defeats us all in being adaptable and hence surviving any adverse condition). These intelligent beings (yeah there I called them beings) may be missing some abilities, yet, but I do believe it is only a matter of time before they gain these advanced abilities too.
Which brings me back to the first question. Who is the supreme of them all? Suddenly, even the prospect of this question is too scary, too significant to grasp and too ambiguous to answer rationally in the present. For now, I table this question and retire to watch time reveal the answer.
Thought trail 
It’s a very profound question, and a very relevant one. I believe it is likely that an artificial intelligence, with a generalised problem solving ability comparable to humans, will be developed by 2030. The decision whether to do that or not is a political decision in which every human being should have a voice. Certainly every human has a stake in the decision, because we’re potentially talking about our replacements, and they may not be particularly friendly. It is emphatically NOT something we could or should leave to technical whizzkids or corporate entrepreneurs.
I suggest that watching time reveal the answer might not be the best approach…
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You know Penny, I am a techie and this question has been nagging at me for quite some time. I share your concern and agree that we all need to have a say in it. Right now, I am still trying to read up as much material as I can on this aspect and trying to “grasp” how significant this transition would be, what should be the boundaries, what are different corporations doing etc. I hope to be able to understand more of the present and future before I can form a coherent opinion.
But your comment did spur me on to “share”. I will definitely share the facts, thoughts, opinions etc hopefully inspiring each person who reads to pause and consider the implications for themselves.
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I’m glad you’re looking into this. I’m a techie too – not IT but chemistry – at least, I was before I retired. I guess you’re IT?
Can I ask a personal question? Your Gravatar makes me think of a musical phrase, and, of course, your blogger identity is ‘Fluid Phrase’. Are you by any chance also a musician?
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Yes, you are right. I am in IT. Wow! Chemistry. How fascinating. You write so well that I thought you studied English – literature or fine arts or something! Never would have guessed.
Hahaha! I wish! I love singing and am moderately good at it. That’s a 30% musician may be! 😉
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Loving singing and being moderately good at it? Yes, at least 30% probably more! Thank you for your kind words about my writing. Yours is pretty good too!
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Thanks Penny!
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