[extropy-chat] Space: The Final Constraint

[Damien Sullivan]

On Tue, Jun 13, 2006 at 04:08:02AM -0700, Lee Corbin wrote:

> Hell, if you so badly *want* to receive photons and phonons that 
> depict birds chirping happily in a green woodland, then please do
> so. But do not demand that untold trillions of people don't get
> to live because you need so damned much matter to reflect those
> photons! There are less expensive ways for you to get your fix.

Actually, what are those less expensive ways?  It seems like an appeal
to just simulate it all in VR.  But how?  If someone wants the
experience of deep exploration of a complex system, vs. 3-D wallpaper of
generic trees and birdsong sources, then that'll take a lot of
computation, it's not just a matter of cheaply calculating some neurons.
The best computer of reality might be reality.

And what if some of the newly created people find that they wanted that
experience themselvs, but can't have it because the needed resources are
devoted to running their siblings?  They probably wouldn't feel their
own lives weren't worth living, but they might regret the choices of
their progenitors in some fashion.

> vistas. But can't we use space in the ways that---appearances to the
> contrary---most deeply resonate with our true values?

"Who's this 'our', white man?"

-xx- Damien X-)