From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Thu May 31 2001 - 02:37:29 MDT
This looks like its going to be interesting...
Chris Ledwith wrote about overcoming our attachment to
"perceived"-self and embracing the uploading of equivalents.
(I agree with his arguments for the most part.)
After watching Damien squirming in the most recent edition
of "The Spike", that it "isn't him", I still haven't seen
any substantive arguments that make the case (No offense D.).
So Emlyn wrote:
> I'm really curious as to why we would want to overcome a drive
> toward self preservation? To what end?
Ah, well it depends on whether you are a "true" extropian or
just wearing the cloth. If Eliezer and/or people working
on similar efforts are successful and a transcendent AI/SI
develops, then it would be moderately to extremely unextropian
to seek to preserve yourself in the face of this. If you
look into the depths of a "god" and realize that it is
far far far superior for evolving itself into the greatest
complexity and self-expression possible (relative to you,
hanging onto outmoded notions of preserving your former self,
not slashing and burning your ineffective copies due to remnants
of human moral beliefs, etc.) -- then you clearly have to justify
hanging onto your matter and consuming energy in what is clearly
a sub-optimal state from the perspective of combatting entropy.
(Henceforth, I will refer to this as the "Extropians Dilemma".)
[I believe that I've stated this in prior emails or presentations
with the quote, "You must give up everything you are for what
you might become."]
So the problem is far far worse than you might suspect. Not
only must you give up your "attachment" to your resident
consciousness in your current biological body, you must also
give up your attachment to your consumption of matter, energy,
and ideas that consume either of those resources. Rejection
of these ideas immediately places you in the Bill Joy camp --
"here we go and we shall go no further". You must be committed
to the path that the AI/SI is on (even if it means the elimination
of your former self) OR come up with a reasonable justification
for not being on that path.
So here is the challenge -- can anyone come up with an argument
that justifies the preservation and continued "operation" of
oneself in the face of clear evidence that more efficient
means (i.e. means that consume less matter & energy) are
available to "execute" ones consciousness? Furthermore,
can anyone present an argument that the occupation and execution
of said means is justifyable if more efficient means to generate
information content (extropization) are available?
You have "inalienable" rights by virtue of being born a human.
Are those rights "inalienable" if you choose to be an extropian?
Robert
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