[extropy-chat] Causes of luddism

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Samantha Atkins <samantha at objectent.com> wrote:
> It would be good to find that which motivates the
> people at large much more 
> strongly than their predispostions are proof
> against.   I am not at all sure 
> it is possible to do so on a large enough scale to
> dislodge the established 
> interests who wish to slow and control innovation.

One thing I've found, in talking to non-Extropians, is
that a lot of the time, the real issue is more about
control - especially perceived lack thereof.

"We're going to make sentient AIs *AND CONQUER YOU*."

"We're going to make self-replicating MNT *THAT EATS
YOU*."

You can see the emphasized downside there, but try
these:

"We're going to make everyone immortal *WHETHER OR NOT
THEY WANT TO DIE*."

"We're going to replace the food supply with GM crops
*WHETHER OR NOT YOU PREFER THE OLD STUFF*."

Or how about these:

"We're going to make a new generation of sentient AIs
that take over the world *AND EVERY CURRENTLY EXISTING
HUMAN WILL BE TREATED AS OBSOLETE JUNK*."

"We're going to genetically enhance our children *AND
YOU DON'T GET THOSE ENHANCEMENTS BECAUSE YOU'RE
ALREADY BORN, AND IF YOU DON'T ENHANCE YOUR KIDS
THEY'LL BE JUST AS WORTHLESS AS YOU*."

Those are the types of messages that many people
perceive, with the emphases added by their own
perception filters.  This seems to be far more common
than true Guardian or Romantic impulses, at least in
my own experiences and conversations.

This suggests a solution: emphasize the voluntary
nature of many of these aspects, and make sure to
design for backwards-compatibility so those who
already exist can transition themselves into the new
structure (say, via uploading) if they wish*, and much
(though not all) of the opposition may melt away.
It's been working for me, when I broach these topics
in public.

*Yes, there won't be any rational decision other than
to upgrade in most cases, the way we see it.  Doesn't
matter.  Give people the choice anyway, so they can
make that decision themselves.  If we're right,
they'll upgrade when the time comes.  Libertarians
especially should be able to grok this impulse.