[ExI] homo sapiens as endangered species

[Anders Sandberg]

Kelly Anderson wrote:
> I would doubt they are spending much on that. Although I would assume
> that they did support the Svalbard seed bank to some extent.
>   
"They" in this case are the Norwegian government, a government that can 
afford this kind of thing (the only non-evil petrostate) and has pretty 
good public support for it. Operational funds are from them and the 
Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT), in turn funded by a whole bunch of 
countries plus the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Seedbanks are cheap to build and maintain. Frozen zoos are more 
expensive and hence more rare (and they are vulnerable to infrastructure 
disruptions). Preserving humans will jump in price, size and complexity 
since they have to be stored alive (if we ever get cryonics to work 
perfectly it would just move things down to the frozen zoo level).


>>>    I love Svalbard!
>>>
>>> So do I. And not only the Golden Compass version thereof. :-)
>>>       
>> I can recommend it. Lovely place, at least in summer.
>>     
>
> I'm quite jealous if you have actually been there. Are there lots of mosquitoes?
>   

I didn't encounter any when I visited in July, but according to my books 
there are arctic mosquitos in some locations.
http://svalbardinsects.net/index.php?id=15

At the Longyearbyen bank there was a sign above a box: "Please put your 
rifle here before entering". Having rifles to scare away polar bears is 
sensible; a few years ago one decided to take a nap against the main 
doors of the university building.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute 
James Martin 21st Century School 
Philosophy Faculty 
Oxford University