[ExI] Natasha and Max - Apologies, but FB?

[spike]

From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Max More
Subject: Re: [ExI] Natasha and Max - Apologies, but FB? (Kevin Haskell)

 

>.Thanks, spike. But it was (I think) Perry Metzger who actually set up the
list.

 

Cool, where is Perry now?

 

>. I just provided the excuse to talk about lots of stimulating topics with
smart people.

 

Interesting side note on that.  There was a core of extropy-minded people at
my college who predated the ExI-chat list by about 10 years.  That kind of
people always seems to find each other somehow on a campus.  We were the
math/engineering/computer geeks who really focused on the question of what
are the practical limits to what computers can do, and how can we prove it?
For instance, philosophers confidently stated that we could never know what
processes are going on at the center of the sun.  But we eventually figured
out how it works, discovered neutrinos and now we pretty much know what is
going on there.  So we were interested in figuring out how to take our
knowledge of how algorithms work and use some kind of educated extrapolation
to determine if for instance, we would ever be able to write code to perform
heart surgery?  We couldn't see why not.  Today it seems likely we can.

 

This year is the 20th year for the List. We should throw a virtual party of
some kind.

 

--Max

Virtual schmirtual.  We should get together with the locals and do something
next time you are in town.  In the meantime, virtual might hafta do.

spike

 

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