From: Phil Osborn (philosborn2001@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Jun 01 2002 - 17:04:40 MDT
Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)wrote on Thu May 30 2002
- 11:46:53 MDT:
"Trying to look at the situation objectively, say from
the point of view of some vast and cool savants a
million years from now, that Rafal S. lived but then
died in the 20th and 21st centuries will be much the
same as it would have if he had lived then died in the
11th century. Their perspective, I believe, is
correct. Therefore, it seems logical to conclude that
your non-existence in the 12th century is as
lamentable as your non-existence might be in the 22nd.
Don't you find a logical conflict between your
approval of certain physical events, e.g. run time for
Rafal S., taking place at one spacetime location, and
your nonchalance whether or not they take place at
another? It boils down to physics, after all. How do
you resolve that?"
Ah, now we are getting into some interesting areas.
Perhaps someone will resolve this and explain "times
arrow"???
I have often wondered how it is that people get so
upset over some catastrophy today - like the 25% rate
of AIDS infection in Zimbabwe - but not if it happened
ten years or a hundred years ago. Like 9/11 vs. the
destruction of the great library of Alexandria. If
you could choose to prevent one or the other, which
one would you choose? 9/11 has certainly had an
impact, mostly negative, on the vast majority of us
who were not actual direct victims, but if you take
the Singularity - the desireability of getting there -
as your measure, then 9/11 may have cost us a few days
extra passage time, while Alexandria likely cost us
many years, very possibly many centuries, considering
its impact on the Dark Ages, etc.
One of the evaluative variables that makes the
Singularity and its likely approach during a span when
we might hope to get on board so very interesting is
that once we are on board, it is possibly permanent.
Subjectively and/or objectively, we may be living for
millions of years. So, if that is a valid
perspective, then what possible pre-singularity goal -
or necessity restricted to a few decades - can have
any measureable significance?
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