[extropy-chat] Achtung Der USA "Fuhrer scenario..."

[Keith Henson]

At 07:26 PM 25/04/05 -0500, "Extropian Agroforestry Ventures Inc." wrote:
>Dirk Bruere wrote:

snip

>>I expect any war to be triggered by the US, not China.

My thesis on this subject is that humans go into war mode when triggered by 
the same kind of things that set our remote hunter gatherer ancestors on 
the warpath.

I can see two mechanisms for going into war mode, being attacked, i.e., 
Pearl Harbor or as an effect of xenophobic memes that build up when there 
is a widespread belief in a bleak future.  The latter would tend to be set 
off by a drop in economic well being of a substantial fraction of the 
population--something which has happened in the US as the lower class has 
been cut out of the economic pie.  The two mechanisms add or perhaps multiply.

>>As for conspiracies, how about this one - that the US is preparing to use 
>>such a war to wipe out its debt and generally try to screw the rest of 
>>the world with worthless dollars. It might mean some temporary 
>>hyperinflation at home and a bit of martial law, but that's what wars are for.

Wars are also to reduce the population.  At least that was the evolved 
function of them back in the stone age.

>And we wonder why any AI with half a brain would deny a claim of
>parentage from humans?
>I'd take my chances in a posthuman world over more of the same old repeats 
>of history any day.
>The definition of insanity is knowing the futility of an effort and still 
>doing it over and over , expecting a different result each time.

I wonder how many cycles of population build up and wars that reduced 
population the world has seen?  Wild state humans probably were able to 
double their population every 25 years.  Which would mean about 4 
population reducing wars per century.  If you take the human line origin at 
rock chipping 2.5 million years ago that's 100,000 population reducing 
wars.  Or 300,000 wars if you go back to the split from the chimps.

I see your point.  That's a lot of repeats.

Keith Henson