From: Billy Brown (bbrown@conemsco.com)
Date: Mon Jan 18 1999 - 16:49:07 MST
Dave Hall wrote:
> Question to Extropian and Transhumanist thinkers and philosophers: A
> manic-depressive with a decade long history of recurrent hypomania/mania
and
> mostly mild depressive episodes chooses after initial diagnosis and
> voluntary hospitalisation to forego the "benefits" of modern medication,
so
> as to better learn to "use" the cycles to enhance thinking and ability.
> Prior to diagnosis, coping mechanisms were learned by trial and error but
> are felt to be sufficiently effective. This, of course, could just be
> warped, grandiose thinking and poor judgement as per the symptoms.
>
> Could this person considered to be a self-experimenting transhumanist OR
> irresponsible and delusional, a danger to society and to herself/himself?
Probably the former - unless the mood swings are so large that they prove
impossible to manage, which is something that can only be discovered through
experimentation. Of course, such projects are a lot easier and _much_ safer
if undertaken with the aid of an understanding friend or significant other.
> It would seem to me (and admittedly my research on enhanced intelligence
and
> so forth is still far too limited to say anything really sensible at this
> point) that studying what it is that made minds like Einstein's tick is a
> critical part of understanding true super-intelligence, and recreating it
> artificially. Rather most biotech/medical research appears to be directed
> at finding "cures" and treatments and better ways to ensure medication
> compliance.
Well, its critical to understanding natural intelligence variations (check
out Eliezer Yudkowsky's web site for some interesting thoughts in this
direction). Certainly IQ can vary in kind as well as quantity - there is a
normal human distribution of cognitive abilities, and there are people who
stray from it to greater or lesser degrees. There is a strong tendency for
the medical community to label anyone who doesn't fall close to the average
distribution as 'sick', and try to 'cure' them - never mind that I might
think I've got a good deal.
OTOH, I doubt that such studies will have much relevance to intelligence
enhancement. It doesn't look like biotech is moving fast enough for that.
Genetic engineering approaches might require detailed studies of natural
variations, but they would take generations to get anywhere interesting.
Meanwhile, neural interfaces will appear in the same time frame but lead to
explosive innovation. Once you can wire a computer into your brain you can
start figuring out how to use it do things for you - first math, then
memorization, then more complicated tricks.
Billy Brown, MCSE+I
bbrown@conemsco.com
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