From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Mar 08 2000 - 21:51:11 MST
>From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
>
>"Zero Powers" <zero_powers@hotmail.com> writes:
>
> > I don't know what the solution is, but I'm leaning more and more toward
> > leaving the technology in the hands of Big Brother until we as a race
>are
> > mature enough to handle it.
>
>I think this shows one of the major problems in this line of thinking
>- because if Joe Q. Public is not to be trusted with a nanoassembler,
>how can we then trust Big Brother? If humans are not morally evolved
>enough (whatever that means), then the aggregate of humans making up
>Big Brother is also not likely to be morally evolved enough. And if a
>maniac with nano gives you bad dreams, then try not to dream about a
>nasty Big Brother with nano.
You make a good point. Although (probably by force of habit) I trust my
government with a nuclear bomb more than I would trust my neighbor, there is
always the potential for big brother to become malicious. I am less worried
about this as I believe US-style government of the people, for the people
and by the people is becoming the global norm. But still it will probably
be some time before I am willing to trust religious governments with
anything like nano-power.
Perhaps the best alternative (and maybe the unavoidable alternative) is to
trust our fate to the electronic intelligences who will be our mental
descendants. Sure they may decide to do away with us, but once (if) they
become sentient there may be little we can do to prevent that anyway. I'd
probably be more willing to trust my fate to a completely rational EI than
my less than rational peers.
-Zero
"To infinity and beyond!"
-- B. Lightyear
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