[ExI] Fermi Paradox - Weighted Summary

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 04/12/2007, John K Clark <jonkc at att.net> wrote:

> 2) There is a fundamental limit on what intelligence can achieve, possibly
> due to war but probably because of the danger of having too much control
> over ones mind and entering into a positive feedback loop;
> in other words, electronic drug addiction.

If anything, drug addiction occurs in our culture due to having too
little control over one's mind. Some drug addicts wish they had never
been tempted to use the drug in the first place, and most drug addicts
wish they could easily switch off their addiction, or that there was
something else they could do that was as least as enjoyable as the
drug but more productive. If they had complete control over their
minds, it would be a simple matter to arrange for these things to be
the case. If you thought that the denial of all pleasures was
important, you could simply make yourself content to deny yourself all
pleasures. This would involve making pleasure-denial more pleasant
than the anticipation of pleasure indulgence.



-- 
Stathis Papaioannou