From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Wed Feb 23 2000 - 13:11:16 MST
john grigg wrote:
>
> Win completely? Aren't there always sacrifices to be made for the things we
> want?
>
> Isn't there always a snake in the garden? Can we overcome mistrust of
> each other and the lust for power? Ever?
That's exactly my point. *Here*, there are always sacrifices to be
made. But maybe that's just the natural result of living with evolved
intelligence, limited processing power, and material non-omnipotence.
Maybe the whole concept of a "problem" is something that only exists in
our mortal world. Maybe all problems have obvious solutions, if only
you're smart enough. Maybe it's possible to *really* *really* win,
forever, and completely.
Most philosophies deal with the "problem of evil" by rationalizing it in
some way or another, because they can't get rid of it. My stance is
that evil is evil, problems are problems, and the world would be well
rid of all of them.
I won't say "perfection", because that implies stasis. The word I'm
looking for is "flawlessness", maybe. I think that life can exist,
growing and vital, without anything whatsoever being wrong in any way.
That's the world I want to live in.
> How have you said your goodbyes?? You still have at least several decades
> left in coporeal form.
Oh, nonsense. I may be only 20, but at least half of my life *here* is
over, and probably more like two-thirds. It'd be foolish to bet on an
apocalypse, because the effects of that kind of thinking show up long
before the date of any possible payoff. Nonetheless, I'm not counting
on outliving my favorite TV show.
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
http://pobox.com/~sentience/beyond.html
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