From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sat Dec 16 2000 - 14:19:35 MST
From: "Dan Fabulich" <daniel.fabulich@yale.edu>
> If we borganize, we should use our collective intelligence to figure
> out how to port ourselves to another faster, stabler, more fruitful
> medium. Like, say, electrons.
Don't brains use electrons? (microtubules?)
> I'm no fatalist, but there aren't that many reasonable possibilities,
> even from this side of the Singularity.
We know of at least one reasonable possibility: A second Enlightenment
inspired by knowledge gained through several technological acceleration
spikes in (formerly) diverse fields of science. A second Enlightenment (or
super-consilience), as I envision it, would use our collective intelligence
to figure out how to divert humanity from global suicide, dystopian
socialism, gray-goo issues, etc. Whatever follows would involve free
compatiblism rather than determinism.
In a world made stupid by ideology, only fools fear the arrival of
super-intelligence. Metaman may emerge just in time to prevent ideologues,
theologues, and demagogues conspiring to devolve transitional humanity back
to yet another tribal world war. Although we could probably trust an SI
global brain (more than any other brain) to solve the world's problems, or
to bring about an Enlightenment singularity, even without SI, a
super-consilience makes a second Enlightenment attainable.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
3M TA3
============
" ...and the business of philosophy is to show that we are not fools for
doing what we want to do." --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:32:25 MST