From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@rawbw.com)
Date: Sat Jul 05 2008 - 14:44:08 MDT
Stathis writes (thanks for always going to the core of the argument)
>> 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.
Not to mention status, and exclusive rights over whatever
is still unique (i.e. genuine heirlooms).
> 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.
Yes, very good. Exactly. However, I wonder if those who
won't change, and so will still want to covet their neighbor's
status, unique possessions, or resources will gain the upper
hand evolutionarily.
Another form of saying the same thing might be that the urge
to dominate is probably an ESS. I don't like this, but I don't
have any idea of what to do about it.
Lee
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