Transhuman Page

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ÜBERGOO: A related term to grey goo, used (jokingly) to refer to the mistaken idea that during the singularity powerful technologies would decimate non-transhumanists, and that some transhumanists would see this as desirable (which is clearly against the Transhuman Principles). [Dale Carrico 1996]

UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING: Also known as "embodied virtuality". Computers that are an integral, invisible part of people's lives. In some ways the opposite of virtual reality, in which the user is absorbed into the computational world. With ubiquitous computing, computers take into account the human world rather than requiring humans to enter into the computer's methods of working. See Mark Weiser, "The Computer for the 21st Century" Scientific American Sept. 1991, Jim Morrison and Ubiquitous Computing at Xerox Parc.

UPLIFT: To increase the intelligence and help develop a culture of a previously non- or near-intelligent species. [From the Uplift novels by David Brin]

UPLOAD: (a) To transfer the consciousness and mental structure of a person from a biological matrix to an electronic or informational matrix (this assumes that the strong AI postulate holds). The term "Downloading" is also sometimes used, mainly to denote transferring the mind to a slower or less spacious matrix. (b) The resulting infomorph person. For more information, see the Mind Uploading Home Page or my upload page. [The origin of the term is uncertain, but obviously based on the computer technology term 'uploading' (loading data into a mainframe computer).]

UPLOADER: (a): A person advocating uploading. (b): a person making an upload.

UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR: A machine capable of constructing anything that can be constructed. The physical analog of a "universal computer", which can perform any computation.

UNIVERSAL IMMORTALISM: The view that the problem of death can be solved in its entirety (including bringing back those "dead" who were not placed into biostasis) through a rational, scientific approach. [R. Michael Perry, 1990]

UNIVERSAL TURING MACHINE: A Turing machine with a rule set which allows it to imitate any other Turing machine (if the rule set and the input of the machine to be emulated are presented on the tape).

UTILITY FOG: A collective of nanotechnological devices ("Foglets") that link together into a complex network in the air, able to work together to exert force in any direction or transmit information between each other. This would give users almost complete control over their environment. See Utility Fog by J. Storrs Hall [J. Storrs Hall 1994]


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Anders Sandberg / asa@nada.kth.se
2000-03-11