From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Apr 25 2002 - 00:00:06 MDT
Robert J. Bradbury wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Apr 2002, Lee Corbin wrote:
>
>
> Nonvolitional uploading would violate Extropian principle #6
> of self-direction. Some people might prefer to evolve
> individually into an Aristoi. It is impossible to do
> that if they are constrained within a SysOp/AI.
If you come across a madman who will destroy himself and others
if not treated and he is too mad to agree to treatment then what
choice do you have but to treat him, kill him, or keep him from
harming self and others? Let nature take its course? Would
that actually be best?
Suppose a benevolent or moderately compassionate SI sees that
many humans are so mad that they will not agree to a cure and
cannot as that would change their self-ness more than they could
bear and that they are bent on destroying one another utterly
sufficiently than even the relatively non-mad will also be
destroyed. What should the AI do if it does not wish to see
humanity destroy itself and would prefer all the individuals had
time and space enough to simply grow out of the madness or be
slowly led out? I would not be surprised at all if such an SI
at least kept up to the fraction of a second scans of the
individuals from which they could be reintroduced in perhaps
different circumstances if calamity struck them. It might be
that this is more straightforward to do well in a Sim. The
difference between a Sim and "reality" would hardly matter a lot
anyway if the SI has as much control over space-time as many
believe it might.
Everyone can evolve into an Aristoi who really wants to, given
enough time and just a bit of safety-net in some crucial spots.
Many might decide to do something different and even more
interesting.
>
> Life is already meaningless. Life within a Sysop/AI becomes
> much more so (for me personally) so I would strongly object
> to nonvolitional uploading. I got out of one womb, I'm not
> about to climb back into one without devoting a lot of thought
> to whether that is the most attractive alternative.
>
Life is most certainly not meaningless except to philosophers
too hooked on absolutism and to confounded by relativity to see
the direction of their own deepest desires and the possibility
of fulfilling them. There is no reason to believe life in a Sim
would have any less freedom or possibility of fulfillment. It
is actually possible there is lot more of both.
- samantha
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