From: Colin Hales (colin@versalog.com.au)
Date: Mon Apr 01 2002 - 18:07:01 MST
In the recent past I have seen two references to a great war by two parties
that I think worth a 2nd look. Are they simply depressive or are they
visionary?
===========================================================
Discovery Today Video Discovery Today Video (real player)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/videos/hugo_discovery_today.ram
Here we have Hugo de Garis of ex-Brainbuilder project who's frightened
and grieving ahead of WW III (literally).
He's invented the protagonists in the subject line.
===========================================================
and here, at Johm Archibald Wheeler's 90th Birthday bash...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/26/science/26COSM.html
...<At the end of the weekend, Dr. Wheeler pronounced himself pleased and
optimistic, sort of. It was "marvelous to see the creativity of this
congregation," he said. Yet, he said he felt "in his bones," that by the
year 2050, "we will have seen the greatest war in the history of the world."
The job then will be to put things back together. After being surrounded by
all this brilliance, Dr. Wheeler said, "I am convinced that we can."
>....
=====================================
It seems that the folk on this list and others are the likely embryonic
cosmists.
Doesn't it mean access/equity for all in the _potential_ boon to come?
Doesn't it mean defusing fears of the post singularity creatures to
come....which will be far more confronting that mere skin colour or
ethnicity?
The job of ensuring post-singularity humanity's (whatever it is afterwards)
seems to be ours. Yes, we'll get lots of wonderful rights - and here's the
big responsibility to go with it.
I vote we skip WW III. I'm not sure I want my kids or grandkids to have to
fight it. As my ol' grandaddy said " *p'ttoheyy*.....*spittoon dong* don't
bother with death, Colin, there's no future in it".
I presume this topic has been done before. I'm just wondering what the
feeling is now.
Colin Hales
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:13:11 MST