From: Matt Gingell (mjg223@nyu.edu)
Date: Sun Sep 05 1999 - 07:42:26 MDT
----- Original Message -----
From: CountZero <count_zero@bigfoot.com>
To: extropians <extropians@extropy.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 1999 1:05 AM
Subject: Who cares
>Ok, folks, I can't stand this much longer!!!
>
>I don't care whether I'm talking humans, >Humans, gals, guys, whatever,
>we're all on the 'bleeding edge' regardless.
>
>The 'powers that be' are going to stomp us flatter than dried elephant
>shit unless we take care.
>
>For once and for all:' The Ideas Expressed in this Group are
>_Subversive_ !!!!'
>
>Governments are _not_ going to respond rationally to the technologies
>that we expect, people (in general), are going to be caught _totallly_
>unaware and _we_ must be able to provide some sort of leadership when
>the Singularity hit (~10-20 yrs hence).
>
>And if you think I'm over optimistic about the time frame, look to your
>latest postings for guidance, things are progressing even better than I
>(an unabashed technophiles) might have predicted.
>
>I don't have a lot to contribute to the truly productive discourse here
>_but_ I feel that I have a good, overall, grasp of the issues, and that
>grasp tells me that that we're in for 'stormy weather'.
>
>Please forgive my '60s take on the current scene but also _please_ don't
>discount it completely.
I�m sympathetic to this point of view. There�s a passage along these lines in
one of Richard Feynman�s books. He talks about wandering around in daze after
having completed his work at Los Alamos. He describes seeing people working on a
bridge and wondering why they bother � since the whole place is just going to
get nuked anyway. Like ants who somehow miss the fact their hill�s been kicked
over twenty times and keep rebuilding.
Here in New York, they�re talking about a 20-year project to build a new subway
line up the East Side of Manhattan. It�s hard not to feel the same way. Of
course, �knowing� the Singularity is just around the corner isn�t going to help
when I�m still humping my way to work on the bus in 2020.
-matt
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