From: Spike Jones (spike66@attglobal.net)
Date: Tue Feb 06 2001 - 21:48:58 MST
Chuck Kuecker wrote:
> Ever compare the intelligence of a house cat to a lion? Or a chihuahua to a
> Great Dane?
I dont expect the little ones are as bright, and I do not expect
tiny people to be as smart as full sized ones, however consider
this curious twist: the first Mars colonists would live in a post-
singularity world, in a sense. They would depend on machines
to make the decisions, to help them think. They would live in
a world in which machines are smarter than they are.
We can already see limited cases in which humans have at
least temporary post-singlarity existence (again, in a sense).
The F18 has experimental ACFIT software (anti-controlled
flight into terrain). If the pilot is heading for the ground, the
ACFIT assumes he is dead, injured, or crazy, takes over
the controls and avoids the turf. Then if the pilot doesnt
start giving commands that make sense, the ACFIT will
actually ignore him and fly home. The future JSF (Joint
Strike Fighter) will have extensive ACFIT as well as
software that will take over the controls when the plane
has been fired upon, in order to decide upon an optimal
strategy then attempt an evasive maneuver to avoid an
incoming missile.
In the time it would take to train a Martian colonist, I
think we could write the software to take many of those
tasks that require high intelligence out of her hands. This
has some enormous advantages. If we manage to find
the genetic switch that would allow us to produce a tiny
person, good chance is that she might be mentally average
or below. But she could carry frozen embryos that are
almost sure to be way above average. If the machines
can carry the load in the area of judgement for one
generation, then intelligence could be bootstrapped upwards.
In a sense then, the Mars colonists would be kinda sorta
living post singularity (lower case s).
Eager to hear Eliezer's comments on this.
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