[ExI] [extropy-chat] War and technological progress

[Keith Henson]

At 10:33 PM 5/2/2007 -0700, samantha wrote:
>Keith Henson wrote:

snip

> > EP theory says no.  There is nothing that the Western countries can do 
> that
> > will keep them from being targets of attacks by Al Qaeda.  The drive comes
> > from the local situation.
>
>I would rather know what we can do to keep our government or some within
>it from stealing all our freedoms after staging things like 911 to
>stampede the people.

EP is a major tool which lets us under stand human nature and why things 
like wars occur.  But I have found it remarkable difficult to turn into 
concrete programs.  For example, had we understood the implications 50 
years ago would it have made any difference in the population growth in the 
places now on the brink of war?

>Focus on Al Qaeda is studiously missing the point
>and letting the evil wizard[s] behind the curtain continue.

This goes beyond first level EEA, but I think the case could be made that 
civilizations under little economic or social stress are more likely to be 
places of relative freedom.  The frontier closed within in the life of my 
parents.  (I put in an example here, but decided in this environment self 
censorship was probably the best idea.)

Which bring us around to space elevators and solar power satellites as a 
way to make the future brighter and provide for human expansion (if humans 
don't just leave physical reality entirely).

Keith