Darwin among the Machines

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"Darwin among the Machines" was the name of an article published in The Press newspaper on 1 !une 1"# in $hristchurch% &ew 'ealand( Written b) *amuel +utler but signed Cellarius (,(-(%) the article raised the possibilit) that machines were a kind of "mechanical life" undergoing constant e-olution% and that e-entuall) machines might supplant humans as the dominant species. We refer to the ,uestion. What sort of creature man/s ne0t successor in the supremac) of the earth is likel) to be( We ha-e often heard this debated1 but it appears to us that we are oursel-es creating our own successors1 we are dail) adding to the beaut) and delicac) of their ph)sical organi2ation1 we are dail) gi-ing them greater power and suppl)ing b) all sorts of ingenious contri-ances that self3 regulating% self3acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race( 4n the course of ages we shall find oursel-es the inferior race( ((( Da) b) da)% howe-er% the machines are gaining ground upon us1 da) b) da) we are becoming more subser-ient to them1 more men are dail) bound down as sla-es to tend them% more men are dail) de-oting the energies of their whole li-es to the de-elopment of mechanical life( 5he upshot is simpl) a ,uestion of time% but that the time will come when the machines will hold the real supremac) o-er the world and its inhabitants is what no person of a trul) philosophic mind can for a moment ,uestion( 5he article ends b) urging that% "War to the death should be instantl) proclaimed against them( 6-er) machine of e-er) sort should be destro)ed b) the well3wisher of his species( 7et there be no e0ceptions made% no ,uarter shown1 let us at once go back to the prime-al condition of the race("

Contents 1 Book of the Machines 8 Evolution of Global Intelligence *ee also 9 &otes : References

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Book of the Machines +utler de-eloped this and subse,uent articles into The Book of the Machines% three chapters of Erewhon% published anon)mousl) in 1";8( 5he 6rewhonian societ) +utler en-isioned had long ago undergone a re-olution that destro)ed most mechanical in-entions( 5he narrator of the stor) finds a book that details the reasons for this re-olution% which he translates for the reader( 4n chapter 00iii. the book of the machines% a number of ,uotes from this imaginar) book discuss the possibilit) of machine consciousness. "5here is no securit)"33to ,uote his own words33"against the ultimate de-elopment of mechanical consciousness% in the fact of machines possessing little consciousness now( A mollusc has not much consciousness( Reflect upon the e0traordinar) ad-ance which machines ha-e made during the last few hundred )ears% and note how slowl) the animal and -egetable kingdoms are ad-ancing( 5he more highl) organi2ed machines are creatures not so much of )esterda)% as of the last fi-e minutes% so to speak% in comparison with past time( ((( <6ither%= he proceeds% <a great deal of action that has been called purel) mechanical and unconscious must be admitted to contain more elements of consciousness than has been allowed hitherto (and in this case germs of consciousness will be found in man) actions of the higher machines)>?r (assuming the theor) of e-olution but at the same time den)ing the consciousness of -egetable and cr)stalline action) the race of man has descended from things which had no consciousness at all( 4n this case there is no priori improbabilit) in the descent of conscious (and more than conscious) machines from those which now e0ist% e0cept that which is suggested b) the apparent absence of an)thing like a reproducti-e s)stem in the mechanical kingdom( 7ater% in chapter 00i-. the machines>continued% the imaginar) book also discusses the notion that machines can "reproduce" like li-ing organisms. <+ut the machines which reproduce machiner) do not reproduce machines after their own kind( A thimble ma) be made b) machiner)% but it was not made b)% neither will it e-er make% a thimble( @ere% again% if we turn to nature we shall find abundance of analogies which will teach us that a reproducti-e s)stem ma) be in full force without the thing produced being of the same kind as that which produced it( Aer) few creatures reproduce after their own kind1 the) reproduce something which has the potentialit) of becoming that which their parents were( 5hus the butterfl) la)s an egg% which egg can become a caterpillar% which caterpillar can become a chr)salis% which chr)salis can become a butterfl)1 and though 4 freel) grant that the machines cannot be said to ha-e more than the germ of a true reproducti-e s)stem at present% ha-e

we not Bust seen that the) ha-e onl) recentl) obtained the germs of a mouth and stomachC And ma) not some stride be made in the direction of true reproduction which shall be as great as that which has been recentl) taken in the direction of true feedingC <4t is possible that the s)stem when de-eloped ma) be in man) cases a -icarious thing( $ertain classes of machines ma) be alone fertile% while the rest discharge other functions in the mechanical s)stem% Bust as the great maBorit) of ants and bees ha-e nothing to do with the continuation of their species% but get food and store it% without thought of breeding( ?ne cannot e0pect the parallel to be complete or nearl) so1 certainl) not now% and probabl) ne-er1 but is there not enough analog) e0isting at the present moment% to make us feel seriousl) uneas) about the future% and to render it our dut) to check the e-il while we can still do soC Machines can within certain limits beget machines of an) class% no matter how different to themsel-es( 6-er) class of machines will probabl) ha-e its special mechanical breeders% and all the higher ones will owe their e0istence to a large number of parents and not to two onl)( <$omple0 now% but how much simpler and more intelligibl) organised ma) it not become in another hundred thousand )earsC or in twent) thousandC For man at present belie-es that his interest lies in that direction1 he spends an incalculable amount of labour and time and thought in making machines breed alwa)s better and better1 he has alread) succeeded in effecting much that at one time appeared impossible% and there seem no limits to the results of accumulated impro-ements if the) are allowed to descend with modification from generation to generation( 5his notion of machine "reproduction" anticipates the later notion of self3replicating machines% although in chapter 00-. the machines>concluded% the imaginar) book supposes that while there is a danger that humans will become subser-ient to machines% the machines will still need humans to assist in their reproduction and maintenance. <@erein lies our danger( For man) seem inclined to ac,uiesce in so dishonorable a future( 5he) sa) that although man should become to the machines what the horse and dog are to us% )et that he will continue to e0ist% and will probabl) be better off in a state of domestication under the beneficent rule of the machines than in his present wild condition( We treat our domestic animals with much kindness( We gi-e them whate-er we belie-e to be the best for them1 and there can be no doubt that our use of meat has increased their happiness rather than detracted from it( 4n like manner there is reason to hope that the machines will use us kindl)% for their e0istence will be in a great measure dependent upon ours1 the) will rule us with a rod of iron% but the) will not eat us1 the) will not onl) re,uire our ser-ices in the reproduction and education of their )oung% but also in waiting upon them as ser-ants1 in gathering food for them% and feeding them1 in restoring them to health when the) are sick1 and in either bur)ing their dead or working up their deceased members into new forms of mechanical e0istence( 5he author of the imaginar) book goes on to sa) that while life under machine rule might be materiall) comfortable for humans% the thought of the human race being superseded in the future is Bust as horrif)ing to him as the thought that his distant ancestors were an)thing other than full) human (apparentl) +utler imagines the

author to be an Anti3e-olutionist)% so he urges that all machines which ha-e been in use for less than DD )ears be destro)ed to pre-ent this future from coming to pass. <5he power of custom is enormous% and so gradual will be the change% that manEs sense of what is due to himself will be at no time rudel) shocked1 our bondage will steal upon us noiselessl) and b) imperceptible approaches1 nor will there e-er be such a clashing of desires between man and the machines as will lead to an encounter between them( Among themsel-es the machines will war eternall)% but the) will still re,uire man as the being through whose agenc) the struggle will be principall) conducted( 4n point of fact there is no occasion for an0iet) about the future happiness of man so long as he continues to be in an) wa) profitable to the machines1 he ma) become the inferior race% but he will be infinitel) better off than he is now( 4s it not then both absurd and unreasonable to be en-ious of our benefactorsC And should we not be guilt) of consummate foll) if we were to reBect ad-antages which we cannot obtain otherwise% merel) because the) in-ol-e a greater gain to others than to oursel-esC <With those who can argue in this wa) 4 ha-e nothing in common( 4 shrink with as much horror from belie-ing that m) race can e-er be superseded or surpassed% as 4 should do from belie-ing that e-en at the remotest period m) ancestors were other than human beings( $ould 4 belie-e that ten hundred thousand )ears ago a single one of m) ancestors was another kind of being to m)self% 4 should lose all self3 respect% and take no further pleasure or interest in life( 4 ha-e the same feeling with regard to m) descendants% and belie-e it to be one that will be felt so generall) that the countr) will resol-e upon putting an immediate stop to all further mechanical progress% and upon destro)ing all impro-ements that ha-e been made for the last three hundred )ears( 4 would not urge more than this( We ma) trust oursel-es to deal with those that remain% and though 4 should prefer to ha-e seen the destruction include another two hundred )ears% 4 am aware of the necessit) for compromising% and would so far sacrifice m) own indi-idual con-ictions as to be content with three hundred( 7ess than this will be insufficient(= 6rewhonian societ) came to the conclusion "(((that the machines were ultimatel) destined to supplant the race of man% and to become instinct with a -italit) as different from% and superior to% that of animals% as animal to -egetable life( *o((( the) made a clean sweep of all machiner) that had not been in use for more than two hundred and se-ent)3one )ears(((" (from chapter i0. to the metropolis() Despite the initial popularit) of Erewhon% +utler commented in the preface to the second edition that re-iewers had "in some cases been inclined to treat the chapters on Machines as an attempt to reduce Mr( Darwin/s theor) to an absurdit)(" @e protested that "few things would be more distasteful to me than an) attempt to laugh at Mr( Darwin"% but also added "4 am surprised% howe-er% that the book at which such an e0ample of the specious misuse of analog) would seem most naturall) le-elled should ha-e occurred to no re-iewer1 neither shall 4 mention the name of the book here% though 4 should fanc) that the hint gi-en will suffice"%F1G which ma) suggest that the chapter on Machines was in fact a satire intended to illustrate the "specious misuse of analog)"% e-en if the target was not Darwin1 +utler% fearing that he had offended Darwin% wrote him a letter e0plaining that the actual target was !oseph +utlerEs 1; # The Analogy of eligion! "atural an# eveale#! to the Constitution an# Course of "ature( 5he Aictorian scholar @erbert *ussman has suggested that

although +utlerEs e0ploration of machine e-olution was intended to be whimsical% he ma) also ha-e been genuinel) interested in the notion that li-ing organisms are a t)pe of mechanism and was e0ploring this notion with his writings on machines%F8G while the philosopher 7ouis Flaccus called it "a mi0ture of fun% satire% and thoughtful speculation("F G

Evolution of Global Intelligence Heorge D)son applies +utlerEs original premise to the artificial life and intelligence of Alan 5uring in Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence (1II") 4*+& D3; "83DD D31% to suggest coherentl) that the internet is a li-ing% sentient being( D)sonEs main claim is that the e-olution of a conscious mind from toda)Es technolog) is ine-itable( 4t is not clear whether this will be a single mind or multiple minds% how smart that mind would be% and e-en if we will be able to communicate with it( @e also clearl) suggests that there are forms of intelligence on 6arth that we are currentl) unable to understand( From the book. "What mind% if an)% will become apprehensi-e of the great coiling of ideas now under wa) is not a meaningless ,uestion% but it is still too earl) in the game to e0pect an answer that is meaningful to us("F9G