[ExI] y2k bug

[BillK]

On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 12:21 PM, Anders Sandberg wrote:
<snip>
> Spike's point is well taken: a lot of people made a big deal out of it, but
> went for the big drama model of what could happen. Even if one thinks that
> is likely, one should assign a higher probability of muddling through a
> society with hightech friction amped up.
>
>

Muddling through is a fine traditional system. e.g. UK politics, world
finance, etc.

But some of our modern tech is not very tolerant of suck-it-and-see.
There are over 400 nuclear power plants (soon to be over 500) in the
world. Maintaining them requires skilled technicians. Even shutting
them down safely requires decades of skilled supervision. If world
wide problems occur, then nuclear technicians may be in short supply.
And computer technicians are needed as well, as computers are pretty
essential to control nuclear power. Trying to 'muddle through' could
be very messy.

BillK