Amara Graps wrote:
> Can anyone who was at the Stanford April 1 event with
> Hofstaedter et al, give a synopsis for those of us who
> live a few thousand kilometers away and couldn't make it :-( ?
Amara, there were tapes being made but I was standing
near the Douglas before the pitch overheard his discomfort
that there were several videotape machines as well as
a buncha nerds with microrecorders. He had intended
on making a videotape commercially available, so I dont
know if he wanted any transcripts to be made, as I volunteered
to help a fellow extropian prepare. I will put together a
nerds-eye view of the event in more detail later but right
now a bicycle is calling my name.
Let me interject this one comment. I had read Bill Joy's
article in Wired, and came with many misconceptions.
Had he published his exact pitch at the nerdfest instead
of what was actually published, he mighta convinced more.
Considering he was up before a hostile audience, he did
an admirable job. Now of course our own Ralph Merkle
did a far better job, but anyway...
I didnt change my mind about neo-ludditism, but Bill does
have some strong arguments about the dangers of future-tech
that need to be addressed. My own company has demonstrated
that all philosophical arguments go out the window when there
is money to be made. I dont suppose this unattractive feature
of human nature will change any time soon. spike
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