From: den Otter (neosapient@geocities.com)
Date: Wed Jan 13 1999 - 10:26:01 MST
----------
> From: KPJ <kpj@sics.se>
> KPJ wrote:
> |Simply put: "Do not to others what you do not wish them do to you."
>
> It appears as if den Otter <neosapient@geocities.com> wrote:
> |
> |Unless, of course, you happen to be vastly more powerful. Then
> |there is no _rational_ reason to restrict your actions.
>
> One might wish to avoid killing random less powerful entities if one
> finds them worth avoid killing for some reason. As a matter of fact,
> one would only kill them if one had a rational reason to do so.
That there's no rational reason to restrict your actions simply means
that you can do anything you want. Killing is just one of many options.
> This
> assumes of course that one only makes rational decisions.
Well, one would expect that a SI would pay more attention to
reason than humans do, but you never know, of course...
> Personally, I find no reason to kill off less powerful entities unless
> they try to hurt me.
Fairy nuff. Personally I'd add "entities that are (very) likely to
become threats in the near future".
> My wiring makes me wish to increase my knowledge of the world. A greater
> number of species and individuals in the world allows for more complexity
> and thus makes the world more interesting to me. This would indicate to
> me that I should avoid killing off less powerful entities, since I find
> pleasure in increasing my knowledge of the world, and their evolution to
> a higher power would make them and/or their species more interesting later.
>
> If you lack this incentive your mileage may vary, naturally.
It all comes down to what one values more: "fun" or safety. Usually
the result is some form of compromise.
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