[extropy-chat] Tyranny in place

[Samantha Atkins]

Hear, hear!  Well said.

- s

On Oct 4, 2006, at 7:32 AM, Rafal Smigrodzki wrote:

> On 10/2/06, Joseph Bloch <transhumanist at goldenfuture.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> However, I do agree with them on one overriding point; that the  
>> threat
>> posed by Islamist extremists is one which threatens the very  
>> existence
>> of the United States and Western culture as a whole, and I find that
>> ensuring the overall survival of Western civilization, which I  
>> believe
>> to be the most conducive to achieving a PostHuman future, is  
>> paramount.
>>
> ### I don't see it this way. Islamic extremists a just a bunch of, to
> use a racist term, despicable, stupid ragheads who couldn't stare down
> a brigade of Marines, much less destroy Western civilization. In terms
> of firepower they are not in the same league as the SS or the Red
> Army, by orders of magnitude. They are a trifle.
>
> However, dismantling the legal devices that protect the freedom of the
> Americans may result in severe disruption of our way of life without
> ever making the slightest difference in reducing the jihadist threat.
> The Vingean singularity may occur within the next 30 years, and I am
> genuinely curious if it will be delayed, or worse, perverted by the
> rise of the security state.
>
> How is the likelihood of the rise of an unfriendly AI impacted by
> increased secrecy, and out-of-control spending on nefarious projects?
> We know that the opportunity to exercise unbridled control over others
> attracts the most vicious humans - will therefore our guardians (now
> less guarded by judges and citizens) become more vicious on average?
> What will be the AI like, if its makers are psychopaths with unlimited
> budgets in a black project?
>
> Current scuffles in distant and unsavory parts of the world do not
> worry me directly. What worries me is their possible indirect impact,
> through inducing deleterious changes in our political culture, on the
> course of AI research.
>
> Rafal
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