From: James Ganong (JGanong@webtv.net)
Date: Wed Jul 22 1998 - 12:55:44 MDT
I think the best model we can use in a discussion on trying to
understand (or at least predict) the actions of a more complex
mentality, subject to drives & selective pressures of which we have no
direct experience, is that of a group of children trying to fathom the
ways of adults; it is IMO the closest analogue to the the problem at
hand, that of someone on one side of a dramatic phase-change
(Singularity) trying to understand those who have already gone through
it. It has the added advantage of being a situation which most if not
all of us have been in,
giving a common reference point.
This model has one major drawback; as
kids, we saw adults all around us, so we at least had some data to
speculate from.
In the present discussion, we of course are engaged in pure speculation.
Anyway, using this model to think about the possible actions &
motivations of a posthuman being, I for one can only come to the
conclusion that at this point in time,
no meaningful statements can be made;
all our speculations sre on par with a child
saying "When I grow up, I'm gonna do __"
(fill in the blank).
This isn't meant to disparage our speculations; it's normal &
productive to think about what you want to be when you grow up/pass the
Singularity, etc. Still, I like this model because it holds out the
possibility that we will have our questions answered & will look back on
them with fond amusement once we personally have
reached the other side of the Singularity &
look back @ the children we are now as the posthumans we will have
become.
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