From: Stathis Papaioannou (stathisp@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Jul 04 2008 - 18:55:24 MDT
2008/7/4 Lee Corbin <lcorbin@rawbw.com>:
>> What need would there be for government or economics when
>> everything is free and happiness knows no bounds?
>
> Sounds ironic or sarcastic, though, knowing you, that is probably
> not the case.
Yes, it was a serious question.
> E.g., what if a cave man (short for hunter-gatherer
> circa 7000 B.C.) said the same about our lives? We'd have to
> explain that as soon as basic wants (being warm, well fed, and
> physically secure) are met, people adapt to that and want more.
>
> Believe me, entities from the future will want more, and more that we cannot
> quite conceive of. Even someone from 1750,
> given a tedious job at McDonald's today would want to ask,
> "what need is there of anything else---life would be perfect
> in such a society with such an easy job".
> We or our replacements may still have the human urge to never
> be satisfied.
This is true because our brains, alas, have not changed one bit from
cave man days. Even if we all had Santa Claus machines we might still
covet our neighbour's unique objects, land and raw materials. But the
crucial change will come when we are able to rewrite our own source
code. If you can see that the attempt to satisfy a desire will lead to
trouble, then change the desire or declare it satisfied by fiat.
-- Stathis Papaioannou
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