From: Eric Zetterbaum (ezetter@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Tue Aug 13 1996 - 18:18:16 MDT
At 03:27 PM 8/13/96 +0200, Anders Sandberg wrote:
>On Sat, 10 Aug 1996, Michael Wiik wrote:
>> This leads to some interesting consequences: if only a portion of
>> mankind transcends, they might leave enough advanced artifacts
>> around for the remainder to do the major physical engineering projects
>> to explore and colonize space. Maybe all those UFO's are full of
>> alien idiots who couldn't transcend along with their fellows.
>
>:-) It might even occur several times, as the conservatives transcend in
>a second singularity, leaving the arch-conservatives, until we get a
>mixture of idiots, conservatives and religious fanatics. Maybe the UFO's
>are interstellar Jehova's Witnesses knocking on our door? :-)
You have left out basic curiosity. There are two not necessarily mutually
exclusive paths to transhumanity. One is inward into our self constructed VR
worlds, the other is outward into the universe. Some of us need to know what
is over the next hill, others prefer to create their own hills on canvas, or
watch hills on TV. Some who have the option to upload into a self contained,
VR world might choose not to do so, because they can't help but want to know
what is in the next star system in the 'real world'. I can forsee a future
in which the artists and couch potatoes of the world are all uploaded into
artificial worlds of their own or other's design, while the scientists and
explorers of the world continue to point their outputs towards the external
universe.
And the conservatives and idiots and religious fanatics, they'll still be at
their respective party conventions I imagine.
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