[extropy-chat] Fundamental limits on the growth rateofsuperintelligences

John K Clark jonkc at att.net
Tue Feb 14 18:35:12 UTC 2006


Robert Bradbury Wrote:

> There are fundamental limits as to how much "intelligence" you can get out
> of specific numbers of photons, electrons, atoms, joules, radiator surface
> area, etc.

And we are so astronomically far from those limits there is little point in
bringing them up in this discussion, they are irrelevant.

> One can however always unplug them if they get out of line.

That's like saying you can always shoot a human dictator if he gets out of
line, but that is often easier said than done.

>  Its obviously relatively easy for other countries to detect situations
> where some crazy person (country) is engaging in unmonitored
> superintelligence development.  Anytime they start constructing power
> generating capacity significantly in excess of what the people are
> apparently consuming and/or start constructing cooling towers

Cooling towers? In a few years you'll be able to power a computer vastly
more powerful than the human brain with a motorcycle battery, and not long
after that with a watch battery.

   John K Clark













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