From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Thu Aug 30 2001 - 10:34:17 MDT
From: "Anders Sandberg" <asa@nada.kth.se>
> Another statement he made (around the time of Jurassic Park, of
> course) was "dinosaurs had their chance, so it is irresponsible to
> bring them back". I wonder if he would really claim it about the dodo?
Whether or not dinosaurs "had their chance" doesn't correlate in any rational
way to the issue of responsibility in connection with bringing them back,
because there may be other factors involved in bringing them back (such as the
possibility of acquiring important knowledge concerning the actual causes of
dinosaur extinction). So, first of all, we don't know for sure if they _did_
have their chance. As for the dodo bird, we know it never had a chance, once
humans invaded the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, so if Spielberg
equates the responsibility of bringing back extinct species with the chance
they had for survival, then of course he would conclude that it would be
responsible to bring back the dodo.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego
Everything that can happen has already happened, not just once,
but an infinite number of times, and will continue to do so forever.
(Everything that can happen = more than anyone can imagine.)
We won't move into a better future until we debunk religiosity, the most
regressive force now operating in society.
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