From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@ricochet.net)
Date: Sun Jun 03 2001 - 16:22:49 MDT
Mitch writes
>Lee writes:
>
><< Have you not hear the Good Word? There is a chance that not
> only death but all suffering will soon be extinguished!
> There arises in the East (actually, to be specific, Atlanta)
> Good Tidings of great joy. Our salvation may be at hand. >>
>
>Reaching for my SKS Rifle::::::
:-) I'm glad that you retain your sense of humor
despite the depressing state of the world. By the
way, what is an SKS rifle?
>"Converting unbelieving dead matter into (Yay-eth!) eternal
>joy" sounds more like a cross between an Amway convention,
>and a X-tasy Rave! ;-)
Whatever. Just so that it happens.
>My search... is trying to see how dead unbelieving
>matter, can be converted into the living people and
>animals environments that I once knew, including the
>creature you have been corresponding with-me.
Alas. There's no denying that in all likelihood
"that which was" will never truly be again.
>This would help people a whole freaking lot and motivate
>more to think long-term about interesting projects, like
>preserving the biosphere until its not necessary, and
>colonize Mars for starters. But it comes down to hope, and
>not "hand-waving"
I'm afraid that this is so, that there are no guarantees
in life. The (lower-case) singularity could fizzle, or
could be evil. All matter in the solar system could go
back to being dead. The Vogons could build an intersteller
bypass.
What we have to do is to try to maintain hope. Fortunately
none of the above are very likely. Our prospects look good
to excellent. I believe that you and I each have about a
fifty percent chance of really making it, so that in about
a quarter of the spacetimes that differentiate from here,
you and I will be continuing this conversation indefinitely,
and under much, much better circumstances.
>Think of it this way. If all I cared about was to look at things with
>optimistic denial, then I might as well have spent more time at a sports
bar,
>watching ESPN, gobbling wings, and guzzling Buds. Not that those are horrid
>occupations, but for me, I need the works of the Moravecs and Tipler's, and
>frankly, for whatever reason, there seems to be a vast, shortage of such
>thinkers and their works. (sigh) Ah well.
>
>Sincerely, if despondantly,
>Mitch
If what happens next surprises even the most accomplished
among us, it won't be the first time. One can even argue
that those with the patience to quickly absorb huge amounts
of material mostly on faith (because the book said so or
the professor said so), and those who can play the academic
games, are not those who can most easily see what's coming.
Lee
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