<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On May 28, 2007, at 8:52 PM, Russell Wallace wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">On 5/29/07, <B class="gmail_sendername">Samantha Atkins</B> <<A href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com">sjatkins@mac.com</A>> wrote:<DIV><SPAN class="gmail_quote"></SPAN><BLOCKQUOTE class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <DIV style=""><DIV><SPAN class="e" id="q_112d5e66daf55f21_1"><BR></SPAN></DIV><DIV>This line of reasoning has considerable dark side potential. We can and do go beyond our EP in at least some ways. If we truly could not do so then we would always be untrustworthy cosmic rednecks no matter how augmented we someday become. We would also find it impossible to overcome our EP even if it was a matter of our very survival which I think in some ways it is. </DIV><SPAN class="sg"></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>Mmm, but is "overcome" the right way to come at it? I'm inclined to look at it as a matter of emphasizing some aspects of EP over others.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>We generally don't behave as our simian cousins do in a lot of particulars. Yes we sublimate, repress, transfer, translate and so on to a considerable degree. We use our minds to think through consequences and decide how we should or can afford to behave and modify our behavior to at least some extent. If we cannot do this and do it much more than to date then our situation is quite dire as the world ever more rapidly is not what our EP was designed to cope with. We ourselves hope to be quite different that what we were evolved to be. </DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> I mean, we have the instinct "hate and kill other people [to get rid of competition and threats or potential threats]", sure, and that's one we understand needs to be kept on a tight rein. But we also, fortunately, have the instincts "deal fairly with other people [so they will reciprocate]" and "love and protect your own [for they share your genes]". Why is the survival and welfare of humanity my supergoal? It's not a theorem of ZFC. It's because I'm relying on that third instinct, just generalizing the "your own" part a bit to include my species rather than only my tribe. </BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV>That is perfectly fine. However I think at some point we will need to not only adapt but actively change parts of our EP conditioning if we are to remain adaptive in a vastly more complex world. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>- samantha</DIV><BR><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>