[ExI] [mta] Are we actors in transcendent films?

Samantha Atkins sjatkins at mac.com
Sun Apr 4 23:37:47 UTC 2010


On Apr 4, 2010, at 11:17 AM, Giulio Prisco wrote:

> What I see, is destructive capacity advancing much faster than
> defensive capacity, at both technological and societal levels. I don't
> like that, but it is what I see. And I agree that our continued
> survival will require balancing the development rates of destructive
> and defensive capacities.

I don't think whether we make it or not is primarily about destructive or defensive capacity.  I think it is more about how we ourselves change, how our consciousness and vision shifts, to one that can have all these abilities that can be used for so much good or ill, with greatest likelihood of good. 

> 
> But I don't see why this must require increased benevolence.
> 

I think it is a selection process.  Those species who reach this point and do not develop large scale inter-being benevolence tend to not make it.    They destroy themselves in increasing warfare and oppressive regimes. 

> I certainly _hope_ that future advanced civilizations will be more
> benevolent than ours, but I don't think we can prove it.

I think we can make a reasonable argument that more benevolent civilizations are much more likely to survive the acquisition of godlike powers.

- samantha




> On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:05 PM, Lincoln Cannon <lincoln at metacannon.net> wrote:
>> Giulio, I'd like to explore this further with you. Do you believe our
>> civilization will continue to advance faster in destructive than defensive
>> capacity? If so, to what would you attribute our continued survival
>> (assuming we survive the increasing disparity)?
>> 
>> On Apr 4, 2010, at 10:44 AM, Giulio Prisco <giulio at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Right, plus many other motivations that we would not be able to
>>> understand.
>>> 
>>> One point where I don't completely agree is "the creators are more
>>> benevolent than us". Sounds kind of reasonable... but not necessary.
>>> And from our daily experience we know that intelligence does not
>>> necessarily correlates with benevolence.
>>> 
>>> G.
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 5:22 PM, Lincoln Cannon <lincoln at metacannon.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Similarly, we can extrapolate from other creative acts in which we now
>>>> engage. For example, perhaps we are a research project, one among many
>>>> worlds in aggregation to assist with predicting the future of our
>>>> creators'
>>>> world. Perhaps our world is analogous to a child-rearing project, engaged
>>>> in
>>>> for reasons like those for which we engage in raising children ourselves.
>>>> One thing that is highly probable, no matter the motivation, is that the
>>>> creators (if they exist) are more benevolent than us; otherwise, the
>>>> probably would not have survived the acquisition of powers that would
>>>> accompany the ability to create a world like ours.
>>>> 
>>>> On Apr 4, 2010, at 4:20 AM, Giulio Prisco <giulio at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Some fun thoughts FYC:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Are we actors in transcendent films?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://giulioprisco.blogspot.com/2010/04/are-we-actors-in-transcendent-films.html
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yesterday I was watching a good historic film, and I thought that
>>>>> perhaps this is the reason why transcendent post-humans may bother to
>>>>> simulate us (see the previous post): for the same reason why we enjoy
>>>>> historic novels and films.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Films now permit only passive watching from an external point of view,
>>>>> and offer only very limited clues on the thoughts and mental states of
>>>>> the characters (books are much better in this respect). But
>>>>> films-as-we-know-them will probably be replaced by full sensory and
>>>>> mental experiences indistinguishable from reality. For example:
>>>>> 
>>>>> First, films will use full 3D virtual reality technology to permit
>>>>> viewers moving in the scene (like live plays where the public can walk
>>>>> in the scene).
>>>>> 
>>>>> Second, once VR technology becomes fully immersive with full sensory
>>>>> stimulation, films may become indistinguishable from reality, but
>>>>> viewers will still know that they are watching a movie.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Then, viewers may have the option to "become" the characters,
>>>>> forgetting their primary lives and adopting the points of view of the
>>>>> characters, with their own scripted thoughts, memories and emotions.
>>>>> 
>>>>> And ultimately, the characters themselves may become fully autonomous
>>>>> and conscious entities, able to provide endless hours of entertainment
>>>>> to viewers by becoming different versions of themselves in different
>>>>> versions of the film's simulated reality. Are quantum many-worlds
>>>>> special effects?
>>>>> 
>>>>> So if you wanted to be a Hollywood star... perhaps you are one, acting
>>>>> within an entertainment simulation run by a Transcendent Mind. Perhaps
>>>>> if you do it well the Mind will copy you to other films.
>>>>> 
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