[ExI] too much of a good thing

[William Flynn Wallace]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 3:09 PM, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se> wrote:

> William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com> , 6/5/2014 8:25 PM:
>
> In my book:  the hypothalamus has a biological clock which affects the
> pituitary, which sends messages to the gonads, which turn testosterone on
> at 7 p.m. and off at 11.  An endocrinologist I asked thought this was
> entirely possible.
>
>
> As a neuroscientist, I also believe in it. The SCN (superior chiasmatic
> nucleus) already modulates the pineal gland and indirectly (largely via
> hormones) the pituitary; a few extra connections to the posterior pituitary
> and one could totally have this effect.
>
>
> How many millions of men and boys have been killed preceded by "Watch
> this!"?  How many millions of women have been raped because, basically, of
> too much testosterone?  How many fights between men have gone too far?  You
> likely can think of other situations.
>
>
> One could even attempt to answer this with a number by looking at
> mortality curves. Besides the infant mortality and old age increase, there
> is a noticeable "adolescent bump", largely for males.
>
>
> We no longer need a high level of need for fat, salt, and, I argue,
> testosterone.
>
>
> Testosterone is useful when you want to shift into a risk-taking mode: if
> the environment is such that risks are low, then it does not matter - and
> in fact, one might want a bit more cognitive diversity.
>
>
> Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute Philosophy Faculty of Oxford
> University
>
​Oh, good one, Tara.  Surely there is a level that sustains sexual arousal
but does not provoke attacks.  Or, as in my book, you control aggression
simply by gengineering.  My future humans are supersensitive and would not
dream of hurting another human (or maybe even another creature), and since
there is no privacy anywhere any transgressions are immediately reported.
And their gene charts studied intensely.  If this doesn't get rid of crime,
I just dunno.  Remember that there is no money, no ownership.  Someone
would just have to wish to hurt another person to commit a crime (and their
ultimate punishment is to have their genes, or at least the ones deemed
responsible, removed from our gene pool).  And vice versa: successful
people will have their genes moved up the desirability chart.

As a thought question: why do we need aggression?  Assertiveness, of
course. Ability to attack/defend, yes.  But no madness, no blood lust, no
'kill em all and let God sort em out'.  Just cold-blooded, effective
action, stopped when the objective is achieved.  (And the first thing to go
in personality traits is psychopathy).

Anders, surely any sort of risk-taking could be fueled by adrenal hormones,
eh?​

​  And let the robots take the risks in the future.  bill w​

>
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