[ExI] paranoia risk

[spike]

From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf
Of Anders Sandberg



>.I have the trolley problem game of moral dilemmas.

-- 
Dr Anders Sandberg
 
 
Anders, I am deflecting from the topic a bit in response to this comment.
 
During the Trolley problem discussion(s) I kept quiet for lack of insight,
but I noticed something interesting when I discussed my personal version of
the Trolley problem with the genealogy crowd in another forum.  I have
written a software package that does systematic comparisons of cousin lists
generated from DNA tests.  It doesn't generate information exactly, but it
concentrates it in such a way that it allows a prole to see patterns
otherwise missed.  From this I can see signals come through loud and clear,
and discover things previously unknown to both me and to the person who
invites me to view their results.
 
I asked here and in the genealogy forum what should a prole do: tell what he
sees, or keep quiet?  Or something in between?
 
On this forum, the answers were all over the map, leaning towards tell.  The
consensus there was more towards when in doubt, leave it out.
 
So it occurred to me that perhaps legal principles were guiding our ethical
notions.  You made a comment recently that suggested this is a bad thing for
legalities to shape our ethics, and I agree.  In the case of the genetics
people, there was some notion that there could be legal trouble for
revealing information, but one can never be sued for doing nothing and
saying nothing.  The legal system is shaping societal ethics.
 
In the classic problem, if a bystander switches the trolley and slays one
geezer while saving ten children, she faces a brutal lawsuit.  So most
people, conflating legality with ethics, will choose to do nothing.  
 
First arrivers at an accident scene face a similar and more realistic
dilemma.  Our legal system has trained us well.  In most cases bystanders do
nothing, or at best call for help from professionals as the victims bleed
out.  Most bystanders opt for no-touch first aid.
 
That genealogy software I mentioned has become even more powerful recently,
so the question of tell or not tell is as important now as ever before.
 
spike
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