[extropy-chat] Extropian Scorecard

[Damien Broderick]

At 04:37 PM 11/7/2004 -0800, Spike wrote:

>I might agree that if we accomplished practical
>immortality, we might not need the current social
>security system.  But we would still have it.

Yes, we've established that this is the case in the USA and many other 
nations. However, the fact that it *isn't* so in Australia is an existence 
proof that people don't run barking mad in the street at the news that an 
un-means-tested pension is *not* an `entitlement', just as slave-owning is 
no longer an `entitlement'. But you might have to creep up on them with 
this horrifying news.

>  The
>newly immortal would assume that the US government
>owes them a pension forever.  They might be quite
>unwilling to relinquish that entitlement, even if
>they do not *need* the checks.

People get over lots of changes. When inflation robs us of our savings, we 
sit there quietly or muttering; there's hardly ever a bloody revolution 
with bankers' heads on poles.

>Altho we are not getting physical immortality, human
>lifespans are increasing way faster than the social
>security system can sustain.

True, and to a large extent bringing increased debility, senility and 
suffering with it. This is a short-to-medium term problem, one must hope, 
unless medical research runs into huge problems or political obstacles. And 
as people on this list should be the first to acknowledge, plenty of jobs 
are gone for good already, and more will follow, but we can expect that 
improvements in manufacturing and other technologies will make it feasible 
for those without work, even the immortal young, to obtain the necessities 
cheaply or free. So the pension problem is a medium term issue, and really 
won't have much bearing (IMHO) on the era of `practical immortality'.

Oh, and did I hear someone say `Singularity', with all that such an 
incalculable disruption implies to our expectations?

Damien Broderick