[extropy-chat] singularity conference at stanford

[spike]

> 
> On 5/15/06, Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:
> >
> > I thought Hofstadter's talk was an utter waste of time.  Yeah, he made
> the
> > good point that Singularity deserved more attention by a broad range of
> > scientists pro and con.  But the rest of the time he used silly cartoons
> and
> > criticized Kurzweil's work in a most unscientific and unprofessional
> manner...


I thought the cartoons were very creative, classic Hofstadter.  But I agree
that he hammered Ray way too hard.  Hofstadter wasted far too much time
picking on minor details of an otherwise fine work.  I too noticed the icy
posture between the two after Doug's talk.

What bothered me far more was Bill McKibben's talk.  Since I haven't the
exact quote, I will need to approximate or paraphrase.  McKibben thought we
need to cut the libertarian notions and acknowledge the propriety of
subjugating our wildest transhuman ambitions to the greater human community.
Did I get that about right, summiters?

Immediately the question came to my mind: what then is the human community?
Is it the two thousand humans in Standford Memorial Hall at that moment?
OK, I am willing to listen to that crowd.  Is it the community of the US?
Possibly I would take that under consideration.  Is the human community to
include the Muslim dominated world?  Or a future Muslim dominated Europe?
Do we need to subjugate our aspirations to their notions of justice?  I
think not.  We must have free-spirited pioneers, for intrepid explorers
tackle the tough problems, they discover things, they open the way for the
rest of humanity.  We cannot and must not hold back the pioneers, for in
doing so we all perish in tragic stagnation, just when humanity stands on
the threshold of a dream.

spike