From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Mon Dec 31 2001 - 08:18:21 MST
From: "Phil Osborn" <philosborn@altavista.com>
> This is the short list off the top of my head. The reality of U.S. justice
is that in spite of having the highest % of people incarcerated in the world,
most people have little or no recourse within the justice system in dealing
with actual criminals, such as local gang members shaking them down, trashing
their homes and vehicles, etc. If they take matters into their own hands,
then they risk enormous legal penalties, which have escalated beyond all
sanity in the past few decades. And if someone in power doesn't like you,
there are a multitude of ways to destroy you, or keep you completely defeated
by endless hassles.
The "someone in power" that you mention, has more real power than a busload of
transhumanist technophiles. In case you haven't read it, _Magister Ludi_, by
Herman Hesse describes a world where a "Glass Bead Game" is played to decide
the structure of the social hierarchy. In today's America, the glass bead game
is litigation. The legal system decides your place in society.
I think the legal system will decide whether Bill Joy's scientific
relinquishment will prevail or if human-competitive AI will continue to
evolve. IOW, for AI phase transition to occur, first the singularity will have
to successfully navigate the legal system.
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI,
non-sensory experience, SETI
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
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