[extropy-chat] Changing Other Poster's Minds

[Damien Broderick]

At 10:25 AM 4/29/2007 -0700, Lee wrote:

>Likewise if someone demonstrated that ESP works.

That has been done sufficiently already.

>  Why didn't evolution seize upon it?

Evolution probably did seize upon it.

>Why aren't the very gifted few already at work cleaining out
>the casinos in Las Vegas?

Why aren't really gifted card sharps and other grifters cleaning out casinos?

>What are the physical laws that account for it?

Good question, perhaps akin to: what, in 1900, were the known 
physical laws that accounted for dark matter and energy and the 
accelerated continuing expansion of the universe?

>Do ESP influences travel faster than light?

The question implies a model that might be inappropos. Certainly 
there are observed correspondences between what seem to be 
"responses" and what seem to be "stimuli" outside their lightcones.

>If so, what happens to relativity theory?

Good question. What happens to relativity theory with nonlocal 
quantum connectivity? There are answers to the latter, but not 
everyone is happy with them because they mostly look like dodges.

>And on and on and on.  Back to square one all over again.

Not at all. Why? Did relativity take *everything* "back to square 
one"? No, but it took some fancy dancing to accommodate earlier understandings.

Damien Broderick