[ExI] Carl Sagan once conjectured that, if things had gone right, we'd be flying to the stars today

[Keith Henson]

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 5:00 AM,  John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Correspondingly, what caused The Enlightment to germinate and bring
> forth an on-going transformation that eluded the lofty Greeks and
> Medieval Europe?

And the Chinese and Indians.

Dr. Gregory Clark thinks it is genetic, the product of intense
selection for "capitalist" genes, i.e., genes for a bunch of
psychological traits that contribute to economic success in a
particularly stable and relatively non violent society.

> A part of me thinks that an immature and violent 15th century Europe
> (or a Greek world that never fell) with nukes would be a recipe for
> the permanent end of civilization! lol  Perhaps things actually did
> work out for the best, because as it is, we as a race were just barely
> capable of handling the awful responsibilities that come with weapons
> of mass destruction.
>
> What do you think?

You make a case.

Keith