[ExI] Lethal future was Watson on NOVA

[Darren Greer]

>Another possibility is that advanced civilizations naturally trend
towards virtual reality, and thus end up leaving a very small
externally detectable footprint. Exploring the endless possibilities
of virtual reality seems potentially a lot more interesting than
crossing tens of thousands of light years of space to try and visit
some lower life form...<

I had never considered this scenario until I came to Exi and it was
postulated for me. It is the most hopeful compared to the other polar
opposite scenarios--self-destruction or mature Zen state (with a no poaching
policy) of technological superiority. Alas, self-destruction seems to me to
be the most likely, given the bloody and tragic arc of our history at least.

D.

On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 3:31 AM, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 4:36 PM, Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:
> > My theory is that almost no evolved intelligent species meets the
> challenge
> > of overcoming its evolved limitations fast enough to cope successfully
> with
> > accelerating technological change.   Almost all either wipe themselves
> out
> > or ding themselves sufficiently hard to miss their window of opportunity.
> >  It can be argued that it is very very rare that a technological species
> > survives the period we are entering and emerges more capable on the other
> > side of singularity.
>
> Another possibility is that advanced civilizations naturally trend
> towards virtual reality, and thus end up leaving a very small
> externally detectable footprint. Exploring the endless possibilities
> of virtual reality seems potentially a lot more interesting than
> crossing tens of thousands of light years of space to try and visit
> some lower life form...
>
> -Kelly
>
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-- 
*There is no history, only biography.*
*
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*-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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