[ExI] Tesla autopilot

[Dan TheBookMan]

On Jan 20, 2022, at 7:04 AM, spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> ...> On Behalf Of Dan TheBookMan via extropy-chat
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Tesla autopilot
> 
> On Jan 19, 2022, at 2:03 PM, spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
> ...
>> 
>>> ... Universal truth: lawyers will sue toward the money.  The more money you have, the more likely you will be sued.  No mystery there.  ...
> 
>> ...How I’m interpreting this: You’re just saying stuff you believe is the case but isn’t actually backed up by anything like looking at the cases or looking at the laws or even the history of law...Dan
> _________________________________________
> 
> Dan, do let me calmly assure you: lawyers will sue toward the money.  Spike's Law it is, far more reliable than the laws of thermodynamics, the laws of physics, etc.  It is universal now and will always be reliable, for they will not sue if there isn't a potential payday somewhere in there and if not will not.  Even if we manage some kind of indemnity as a special case for self-driving cars, accidents will not be completely eliminated and lawyers will sue toward the money.  Do let me assure you sir, that will never change.
> 
> This observation is not to disparage lawyers.  If I practiced law instead of engineering, I too would sue toward the money.  I don't expect anyone to do otherwise.
> 
> What remains to be seen is if sufficient stock buyers will bet against Spike's Law to fund a company to make cars without a steering wheel.  That one I don't know.

Spike, let me assure you that the statement about (most) lawyers (most of the time) suing for the _expectation_ of money is both something I’m not denying and something that tells us nothing here. Until the legal and regulatory aspects are worked out and if the technology continues to spread and mature, it’s anyone’s guess what the outcomes of specific cases will be and what the overall expectations will be from the courts and lawmakers. This is what will determine, afterward, who will likely make money. And your guesses here are just guesses, and, no offense, but having a PE doesn’t make one a legal expert much less an expert of forecasting changes in law.

(And this is all repeating stuff I wrote in the post you quoted but heavily trimmed.;)

Regards,

Dan