From: Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 20 2000 - 11:13:53 MDT
Peter McCluskey wrote:
> >is it so clear what the directions of people's "moral" dispositions are...?
> "... It is cruel to create an uploaded being that contains some of
> those cryonics patients' humanity, but is missing a soul [or qualia ..."
>If the value of human labor could lose trillions of dollars, it is hard
>to see what could counter that motivation if it were happening today. ...
>I'd guess that if animals suddenly became able to replace 30 or 40 percent
>of human labor, that the animal rights movement would succeed in creating
>enough moral revulsion to animal labor to outlaw virtually all animal labor
>worldwide.
> I can't figure out how long such a prohibition would remain enforceable.
>... you are claiming that people would never get upset over things
>like digging up graves? ...
>It should be easy to create controversy over what [scan] info is relevant.
>... I look at movements to repudiate slavery, child labor, human cloning,
>and genetically modified foods and see a much more mixed picture than you do.
My main point was that it isn't so much that people are morally against
uploads, as that there are lots or related hot buttons that can push people
either way, depending on where their interests lie. If people feel their
wages are threatened, then yes they might discover moral objections. But
it is the wage threat, not the moral objections, that would drive things.
I like your animal analogy, but expect the opposite in that hypothetical.
I don't know if people would go as far as planet of the apes in enslaving
animals, but they wouldn't just ignore this huge source of wealth.
Imagine one country, say Cuba or North Korea, decides to use these apes
internally, and their economy starts booming. Their exports shoot up, they
get rich, and people like to visit there. Some of the countries that used
to sell the things they sell now sell less of them. Would the rest of the
world really invade these countries, or blockade them, to prevent this?
Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:30:04 MST