[extropy-chat] what is probability?

[BillK]

On 1/14/07, Jef Allbright wrote:
> What does gravely concern me is that that a large majority of the decision-makers in
> our population are uncomfortable and unskilled at rational  thought!
>
> It's scary in the face of rapidly escalating technological empowerment that so many
> people aren't equipped to effectively exercise their volition in an increasingly complex
> environment.  It's not that we should be expected to have the "right" answers, but we
> do a pitifully poor job of recognizing the problems and asking the questions.  And I
> won't even get into how many people think rationality itself is evil.
>


The future won't be planned or controlled. It will just happen.

It will be shaped by forces beyond our control.
Like the East / West jihad.
Like the giant corporations deciding where the biggest profit lies.
Like the non-rational public using their spending power to decide where
tech development should go.
Like natural resources running dry. e.g. water, oil, metals, etc.
Like floods, droughts, plagues.....
Like Western birth rate falling, Third World birth rate increasing.

Rationality has almost nothing to do with human development.
Emotion is what drives humans.

BillK