From: J. Maxwell Legg (income@ihug.co.nz)
Date: Sun Oct 25 1998 - 14:13:39 MST
Max More wrote:
>
> At 03:25 PM 10/24/98 +1300, you wrote:
> >
> >"as with all the links in my bookmarks, I do not necessarily agree with
> >all the sentiments expressed therein. For example in the Extropian
> >Principles 3.0 and The Journal of Transhumanism, the term 'economic
> >growth' relies on capitalism and a price system which to my way of
> >thinking are at odds with a public-AI decentralised data fusion, Survey
> >Society.
>
> You've lost me here. How does the term "economic growth" rely on any
> particular system? "Economic growth" means no more than an increase in the
> total measurable output of an economy. It does not specify how that economy
> is organized. The current version of the Principles does not even mention
> the price system.
>
Let me quote how you qualified the use of the term "economic growth".
------------------
Robin Hanson's JOT ABSTRACT http://www.transhumanist.com/
"Economic growth is determined by the supply and
demand of investment capital; "
Max More EP 3.0 http://www.extropy.org/extprn3.htm
"The market price system encourages conservation, substitution,
and innovation, preventing any need for a brake on
growth and progress. "
--------------------
I say: Investment capital and the market price system mean
only one thing; - money. Although the market system
is analysed as a negative feedback loop, money has
been shown to create self re-inforcing positive
feedback loops of wealth/poverty vicious circles.
-------------------
Nigel says: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~online/transact/
The global economy and capitalism as we have known
it is already in transition.
The industrial mode of development is being
transformed by the emergence of a new techno-economic
paradigm - brought about by the pervasiveness of
effects of the new technologies - heralding a new
informational mode of development.
The main distinctive feature that constitutes the
information technology paradigm is that information is its
raw material. In previous technological revolutions,
information simply acted on technology, whereas now,
the new technologies act on information. New sources
of energy underpinned successive industrial revolutions,
just as information is the 'energy source' of the
information technology revolution. Information
processing enables knowledge to intervene upon
knowledge itself in order to generate higher
productivity, as with finance capital.
The informational mode of development represents
a discontinuity within capitalism - exemplified by the
paradigm shift - however, this is a coterminous process
that for the moment cannot be disengaged from the
continuance of the industrial mode of development
that it has transformed.
The emergence of the information technology paradigm
can be seen as a continuity within the dynamics of
capitalism - as can the coterminous processes of
financial capital and globalisation be seen as
continuities of capital - but aspects of the new
informational mode of development represent
discontinuities with industrial capitalism, as
organisational aspects show a qualitative shift
has occurred in the structure of society itself.
Quantitatively speaking though, the informational
mode of development represents an exponential
escalation of every dimension. The certain
continuity of this exponential escalation will
inevitably determine the necessity for the
informational mode of development to disengage
from capitalism and the straight jacket
of finance capital's price and double-entry
bookkeeping systems, heralding a new transaction-
based economic system managed by a bevy of global
artificial intelligence engines.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:49:41 MST