[ExI] Singular vs Group mind(s) [was: Second Life]

[Mike Dougherty]

On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 11:02 AM, Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> What?
> I disagree (with you, not with the list).
>
> But then, I don't argue for argument's sake, I argue with individuals on what appear to me to be false or mistaken ideas.
>
> There is no 'list entity', just a medium of communication between a number of individuals.
>

Do you collectively refer to Americans or American ideals when
discussing international politics?  Are you saying that this list does
not aggregate discussion around a particular topic attractor? (of
course you don't; I exaggerate this point to illustrate what I poorly
expressed on my first attempt)

Suppose hard takeoff AI contacts you in real-time communication as
ambassador for humankind - is your view representative of your
species?  Would the majority of humans agree with the decisions you
make on their behalf?  This was one of the contexts of the movie
Contact - if a human scientist decodes the invitation to enter the
galactic civilization, should a scientist represent humanity or one of
the many non-scientifics (religious/deistic/whatever)

In reference to the seemingly endless identity threads, is a brain
merely the communication between a number of neurons?  Is a person the
reference to the continuous process of that communication?  Do groups
of people exhibit characteristic communication tendency that gives the
group a 'personality' despite none of its members having that
particular behavior?  (I would be quick to accept that they do, but
apparently I haven't convinced you)

btw, thanks for disagreeing and voicing that fact.  Perhaps others
found this point obvious and without need for comment.  Perhaps they
felt it so misguided (or undeveloped) as to be unworthy of comment.
Hopefully this argument over my "false and mistaken" idea turns into a
discussion of differences if not agreement.