[ExI] Digital identity

[BillK]

On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Anders Sandberg  wrote:
> I assume you are merely donning some fashionable cynicism here, rather than
> actually talking political science or sociology?
>

No. I have no wish to discuss politics, but I thought that it was
common knowledge that politicians are regarded as self-serving and
corrupt. They work for themselves and the bankers and corporation
lobbyists.

If you dig a bit deeper the reality is far worse.
How can you tell when a politician is lying?
It's when they speak.


> There is an interesting question in how influence scales with wealth.
> Clearly richer people do have bigger social impact, but much of it is
> contact networks rather than through wealth itself.
<snip>
> If you believe influence scales linearly or superlinearly with available money,
> the governments will clearly be able to control the rich guys.


Heh!  :)  Tell that story to the unemployed and poor 99% of the population.


>
> The kind of people who want to live forever in the garden of Eden are
> typically not the kind of people who drive the economy and make history.
> Sure, there will be a bunch of little Edens floating around, but they will
> not matter much since the bulk of growth (economic, scientific, artistic)
> will be happening in the interconnected economy.
>


I think you underestimate the appeal of having your own Eden.
Some argue that could be the explanation for the Great Silence.


>
> The speed depends on available computer power, and this depends on the
> particular scenario. If the emulation technology arrives first, but
> computers are not yet cheap/fast enough uploads will be few and slow,
> gradually picking up speed. If you have hardware overhang due to late
> emulation technology, you get fast/many uploads quickly.
>
>


Agreed it won't all happen overnight. The sequence is important.
But the first successful upload  / AGI can immediately set about
improving the computer power and creating improved copies. How quick
and how many uploads get done is arguable.
But the great fear of the AGI people is that the first mover advantage
will be overwhelming.



BillK