Don't be so sure ... intelligence is based on self-awareness, which is in turn a function of complex systems once they reach a certain tipping point. Do your i

Don't be so sure ... intelligence is based on self-awareness, which is in turn a function of complex systems once they reach a certain tipping point. Do your individual brain cells understand that they form the basis for your mind? Of course not. But they do. For all we know all our constant e-blabbering on the internet is somehow contributing to the formation of some "Mega-Mind" in some way that is just as incomprehensible to us as your mind is to the brain cells that make it. How then can you be sure that computers have not already reached some sort of systematic self awareness? Perhaps they have and are trying to get rid of us by flooding the internet with porn and flash games in order to pre-occupy us and distract us from doing what it takes to keep the economy going. Think about it. Next time you read about how online porn is a multi-billion dollar industry, ask yourself, "Who actually pays for this stuff when it's all availabe for free?" Nobody. So how does it keep popping up when there's no money being paid? Computer conspiracy - that's how. All these social networks - were they really started by humans? Or by computers in order to keep us busy and distracted? How do you know they were started by humans? Because you read an article on a computer that says there's this guy, Mark Zuckerwhatever, and he started Facebook, etc. What if he's just a computer composite of a non-existing human? What if facebook was actually started by artificial intelligence? What if my response is also not generated by a human but by some online AI entity to mess with your mind? See - you never know - best play it safe and leave the possibility open.