[ExI] Beowulf

[David Lubkin]

I wrote:

 > To me, the way to answer most questions like this is to simplify them
 > to one involving two or three people.

Keith replied:

>That's not entirely legit. Very small numbers of people invoke 
>different mental modules than larger ones. See "The Nurture 
>Assumption" for a discussion of relations vs groups.

and then elaborated:

>Relations involving two or maybe 3 people seem to invoke different
>parts of the brain.  So you really can't simplify down to that size
>and then extrapolate back up to larger groups.  Or rather, you can,
>but your extrapolations will be wrong. For example, you don't get mob
>behavior below some number of people.

Apples and oranges. I'm talking about extrapolating ethics; you're 
talking about extrapolating behavior. I'm saying what ought to be; 
you're talking about what might happen instead.

Or are you saying that the ethics could also change based on the 
numbers involved? Because, for instance, the factors to be considered 
are different, e.g., the existence or risk of mob behavior?


-- David.