From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Jan 08 2002 - 22:34:52 MST
Here's a neat counterpoint to robophobia as it applies to the future of
machine intelligence.
In this instance we see the dark aspect of robotic humanity in the present.
Robotic prayer machines?
http://www.inq7.net/vwp/2002/jan/09/vwp_5-1.htm
First, Isagani Cruz made some silly predictions about what the United States
would or would not do if the Philippines got embroiled in a war with China,
and ultimately recommended prayer as the solution to the Philippines'
problems.
Then Nandy Pacheco in a typical Filipino agony column, wound up with the same
solution as Cruz, more prayer.
I would think any rational person would have long ago come to the conclusion
that the Philippines has been abandoned by God and that it was time for
Filipinos to take matters into their own hands.
A dependence on supernatural creatures will get you nowhere. What is necessary
is a revamp of the Filipino character. That would be an arduous and difficult
task but there is no other solution.
A place to start would be at birth. As Sylvia Mayuga put it in one of her
commentary columns, she was baptized without her consent. That, and subsequent
religious pressures, are a form of entrapment. Willy-nilly the Filipino
becomes a robotic prayer machine.
--- --- --- --- ---
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.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:11:30 MST