hal@finney.org wrote:
>
> My ultimate point is the same one I have made in other contexts. We have
> had tremendous success througout history by removing supernatural elements
> from our explanations of the universe. Adopting the view that ETs are
> here and manipulating our world is a giant step backward. Posting to the
> web to implore ET to respond is simply a form of prayer. I don't believe
> this has any place in a modern, rationalistic approach to the universe.
I reject utterly this entire concept of rationality. What you're saying is that the historical development of human opinion, in which "progress in successfully modeling and manipulating the Universe" was covariant with "the change from models that attribute patterns to the desires of powerful entities, to models that attribute patterns to the interaction of lower-level elements", is allowed to impose a constraint on external reality that prevents powerful entities from influencing our world.
Maybe people who are already silly to begin with can't accept the idea that this whole Universe might be a computer simulation run by interventionist sysops without losing all track of reality, but as far as I'm concerned, in the event that the Matrix Hypothesis was proven, I'd simply go on thinking the same way as always. If I don't believe in miracle X, it's because miracle X is easier to explain by reference to human legend then by reference to intervention, not because intervention is absolutely impossible. Think relative probabilities, not proof. Only weak minds demand certainty.
-- sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://pobox.com/~sentience/tmol-faq/meaningoflife.html Running on BeOS Typing in Dvorak Programming with Patterns Voting for Libertarians Heading for Singularity There Is A Better Way