[ExI] No need for radical changes in human nature/was Re:Private and government R&D

[Aware]

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 7:40 AM, Olga Bourlin<fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:
> From: "Henrique Moraes Machado" <cetico.iconoclasta at gmail.com>
> To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 7:06 AM
>
>> Do the terms criminal mastermind and evil genius ring a bell?
>
> Yeah.  Who can forget Ted Kaczynski?

In my opinion, this simple and "obvious" line of reasoning neglects
the increasingly significant reality that the dominant drivers of
intelligence are increasingly external to the individual human agent.
I had hoped that Spike's recent "isolated on an island, recreating
civilization" scenario might have driven this home, but it went almost
nowhere.  Enthusiasm for nootropic supplements, celebration of
individual genius, endless discussion of a singleton godlike AI:  all
of these neglect the systems-theoretic essential importance of
environment to the expression of the the traits of any adapted
(evolved) system and more pointedly, it's ongoing adaptation and
effectiveness within a complex and changing environment.

Oh, for a world where systems-thinking were taught to children
alongside fairy tales, fables, mythology and pop-culture.

- Jef