RE: Are you an extropian? Re: Voluntary simplicity

From: hal@finney.org
Date: Fri Jun 09 2000 - 09:31:13 MDT


After hearing about asterisked Extropian Martha Stewart, I found that she
writes a syndicated column which appears in my local newspaper. Here are
the topics in yesterday's "Ask Martha":

   Q: How do you make a chain of paper dolls?

   Martha Stewart: With nothing more than scissors, paper and a little
   imagination, you can make intricate paper dolls to use as decorations
   for events such as a bridal shower or birthday party....

   Q: What is the best way to dry and store fresh pasta, and how long
   will it keep?

   Martha Stewart: The dried pasta we buy in grocery stores has ease
   and convenience going for it, but it can't quite capture the subtle
   flavor of homemade pasta. Many people see making fresh pasta as a
   daunting task, but it's far simpler than it appears - and the taste
   is more than worth the effort....

   Q: I have two cats who love to play on our dining room table. I have
   tried everything to keep them off. Do you have any suggestions?

   Martha Stewart: if there's a piece of furniture we'd rather not see
   our pets on, they will invariably make it their favorite place....

Any of these questions would make fine discussion topics for our
Extropian list. We can start with the paper dolls. What are the
implications of nanotech and AI for making paper dolls? Could there
be "smart paper" where you start cutting out the doll at one end, and
your cuts are automatically replicated repeatedly down the paper so you
don't have to fold it first? Maybe it could even be possible to "undo"
cuts when you made a mistake with the scissors. As for AI, what new
forms of paper dolls could be invented by an intelligence thousands of
times greater than our own? Would they even be comprehensible to us,
or would they be as far beyond our efforts as our own paper dolls are
beyond those made by ants?

This opens up all kinds of new possibilities for Extropian discussions.
That asterisk covers a lot of ground. Who's next, Jerry Springer?
I can't wait to find out.

Hal



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