Susan Blackmore proposes that human thinking is influenced by memes, which have shaped our brains and thought processes over time. Similarly, she believes that machines are evolving to think in their own way, influenced by the next replicator, which is taking over digital technology and creating its own thinking machines.
Blackmore challenges the idea that humans can design machines to think in a certain way, emphasizing that we often project our own human-like thinking onto these machines. Instead, she suggests that evolution, rather than intelligent design, is the driving force behind the development of thinking machines.
She draws parallels between the evolution of human brains, which evolved incrementally, and the evolution of digital technology, which is rapidly evolving and interconnected, resembling a global brain. Blackmore speculates on the possibility that humans may become integrated into this evolving digital ecosystem, akin to the way mitochondria became symbiotic with larger cells, benefiting both.
In her view, the proliferation of digital information and the continuous evolution of technology will lead to the emergence of new thinking machines, and humans may eventually become a part of this larger thinking system, rather than controlling it. She suggests that we are becoming integrated into a vast thinking machine, contributing to its growth and evolution.