From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Tue Apr 09 2002 - 17:24:07 MDT
On Tuesday, April 09, 2002 2:40 PM Rüdiger Koch rkoch@rkoch.org wrote:
> Hmmm. The homepage has a symbol that looks like a variation of the
Nazi
> symbol to me. They also seem to have a very elitist view on things:
> <QUOTE>
> So what's the moral of the story here? Well, make sure that you're one
of the
> first Powers, obviously, but more on that later.
> </QUOTE>
>
> But that quote raises an interesting question I have never thought
about yet:
>
> Could the Singularity happen as a paranoid arms race of augmentation
devices
> where everybody tries to stay on top of the development because all
those who
> fall back will not perform well enough to make enough money or so to
get into
> the lext level? And whoever falls back too much will simply be
trampled down?
I've often thought of that, especially since that's generally how
current humans are and many other social animals I read up on. I mean
there's a race to stay ahead, to be top dog -- or, at least, not to be
bottom dog.
I've often thought there are two solutions and they're not mutually
exclusive. One is to be a Power, so that you are not left behind. That
sounds good on paper, but how likely is it? The other is to make sure
there are lots of varied Powers, so that no one Power or set of them
winds up enslaving every sentient who is not a Power. This is sort of
like preventing a unapolar world, such as we have today where the US
basically is the Hegemon of the whole planet. (There's no equal or near
equal to check US power right now.)
My two cents!
Dan
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
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