[ExI] Pride and/or thinking superior

Lee Corbin lcorbin at rawbw.com
Fri Jun 27 14:40:45 UTC 2008


Spike writes

>> Anna [started it:] 
>> 
>> > How is [pride] possible?  If at any moment you think you are 
>> > better than anyone else it could mean you have a superiority 
>> > complex.  Which is useless...
> 
> Someone, somewhere at some time, *is* better than everyone else

Well, if, as you go on to say, one uses many criteria. A neat
thing about a certain stage of our success in developing an
AI could be at some point it is able to factually state: "I am
superior. I can do anything better than anyone else. Even
better than anything the Shover Robot can do."

But until then, we have to proceed as Spike says:

> If we allow a number of different criteria by which to judge
> ourselves, then there can be simultaneously several persons
> better than everyone.  For instance, there is a best living
> chess player,

For many years, I was *the* world's only cryonicist
chessmaster, and perhaps I so remain, and I was
almost surely the first. But that's nothing I take compared
to the "pride" I take in being Lee Corbin, which I can do
better than anyone else. So far.  Of course, as Anna was
getting at, just what does it mean?  Am I proud to be an
American? No, I was born that way.  Am I proud to be
well-educated? No, my dad saw to that, for the most part.
Am I proud to be smarter than average?  No, I came out
of mommy's tummy that way, so far as we know.  Now, 
I *am* proud only of being liked by a few people I highly
respect, a few math insights I've found (that are hardly
original), a few stories I've written, and so on. As she implies,
the closer you look at it, the less there is to it (IMO).

> and a best living boxer, etc.  If we allow arbitrary combinations
> of disparate criteria (think of that Olympic sport that combines
> skiing and shooting), nearly everyone can come up with a
> combination that would make them world champions.

And some humble soul that couldn't do that might even 
take a certain pride in it  :-)

> In my case, I claim to be the world champion at chess
> playing motorcycle racing aerospace hardware
> designer featherweight boxer in the over 45 division.
> If I can get that made into an Olympic sport I
> will soooo go for the gold.

Please do. You'd be doing everyone a favor, because it's
human nature to enjoy a spectacle.

Lee




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