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A strange thought about contracts
roz303
Member Posts: 66 ✭
Nevermind my Etheric obsession and lack of sleep! I've been thinking of something outside the etheric norm of contract programming and application. Something fun to think about!
Could contracts be considered living digital organisms?
Here's my stance: They need ether to run - for their ability to run functions and maintain internal states. We assign the need for the contract to, then, in a sense, survive. Organisms do things when they have energy - and since ether is in a more literal sense energy for the contract - it begins behaves more like an organism, and less like a program. Furthermore, organisms have sensory capacity - in one way or another, they can sense their environment. Well, in a sense, so can contracts. Their senses are the data used when calling or transacting functions within the contract. Finally, organisms have the capacity to evolve. While contracts cannot replicate by starting new contracts on their own, and mutate on their own (through computerized genetic algorithms or otherwise), the factor of evolution could be seen in the author's desires to re-deploy a contract, with written modifications from the previous contract.
So, therefore, with the factors of survival, operation, and evolution translated from biology to Ethereum, I believe contracts could be considered living digital organisms. They're alive, they have a need to survive, they function, and they evolve.
...I need sleep. And I have a feeling the forum *might* not be the best place for strange philosophical discussion, so I'll keep these kinds of posts to a minimum. Anyway, thanks for reading this weird idea. Looking forward to genesis!
Could contracts be considered living digital organisms?
Here's my stance: They need ether to run - for their ability to run functions and maintain internal states. We assign the need for the contract to, then, in a sense, survive. Organisms do things when they have energy - and since ether is in a more literal sense energy for the contract - it begins behaves more like an organism, and less like a program. Furthermore, organisms have sensory capacity - in one way or another, they can sense their environment. Well, in a sense, so can contracts. Their senses are the data used when calling or transacting functions within the contract. Finally, organisms have the capacity to evolve. While contracts cannot replicate by starting new contracts on their own, and mutate on their own (through computerized genetic algorithms or otherwise), the factor of evolution could be seen in the author's desires to re-deploy a contract, with written modifications from the previous contract.
So, therefore, with the factors of survival, operation, and evolution translated from biology to Ethereum, I believe contracts could be considered living digital organisms. They're alive, they have a need to survive, they function, and they evolve.
...I need sleep. And I have a feeling the forum *might* not be the best place for strange philosophical discussion, so I'll keep these kinds of posts to a minimum. Anyway, thanks for reading this weird idea. Looking forward to genesis!
Comments
I think a self-replicating contract (which is entirely possible in Ethereum) can definitely be thought of in terms of artificial life.
For example, in Solidity:
https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Solidity-Tutorial#interfacing-with-other-contracts
Notice the `return address(new OwnedToken(name));` near the bottom.
Mutation is a bit harder, but possible with sufficiently clever design.
Until now, ownership of resources and possibilities to sign contracts have been limited to humans mostly. To a variable degree, it has been possible to create trade bots on stock markets and similar things. With Ethereum, it will now be possible to create off-chain organisms (IOT) that, using Ethereum contracts, can have a real effect on the world.
Highly speculative, and a little like science fiction, but suppose it was possible to create an Artificial Intelligence connected to Internet. Until now, it would be very limited and only able to interact with the world indirectly through humans that have the means. As have already been mentioned elsewhere, Ethereum is one stepping stone required to realize Skynet.
...well, so is Ethereum. Not every computer, but I suppose over time, it'll be in a vast amount.
As far as self awareness is concerned, all it would take is for contracts written like digital organisms to become aware of others' functions and states and so on, and really, enough contracts could maintain such awareness of other contracts that self-awareness could indeed emerge. BUT these contracts depend on ether to survive. There's still a kill-switch
I'd like to akin contracts to cells, and Ethereum as a macro-organism.