In a message dated 99-09-10 11:35:22 EDT, you write:
<< and, in Western democracy *only*, it would *maybe* allow us to
better control our government *if* we could interrogate politicians. >>
I like that idea.
<<as 95% of Congresspersons, high-level bureaucrats, and corporate
executives went out the window. I'm inclined to think they would band
together and use the truth machine to enforce a dictatorship.>>
Still, . . . what happens when we leave a civilized area on or off this planet and do not have control over the colonies? I have no idea. What can you do if a group chooses to be irrational? Total freedom means some are bound to be dictatorships and try to force belief in their system. Purhaps colonies off Earth will be separated far enough, but people within the colonies change and will want their freedom just like it is now, on Earth.
If you have irrational groups doing harm, how can they be controlled without a police state? Even police states do not stop organized crime -- simply pay-off the police. Should the groups (crazy groups as well as rational groups) even be controlled at all? Could we instead . . . as individuales, all acquire defensive weapons: for example, private police paid by individuals and private security systems, nanotechproof clothing and structures (fight nano crime with anti-nano-nanotechnology, see Drexler's books) only individuals control?
I see some really big problems coming up. I console myself only that at least some people (e.g., ExI members/supporters, transhuman groups) are starting to think about these problems.