[extropy-chat] Fwd: Extinctions

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com>
Date: Jun 10, 2006 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Extinctions
To: Damien Sullivan <phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu>


On 6/10/06, Damien Sullivan <phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu> wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 10, 2006 at 11:05:05AM -0400, Rafal Smigrodzki wrote:
>
> > Besides, if we really want to have more species, it will be cheaper to
> > make them tomorrow than spending a lot of effort on saving them today.
>
> This sort of gambling of present things for hypothetical future
> capability is part of what strikes normal people as wild-eyed optimism
> and religiousness about the Singularity.  "It doesn't matter what we do
> now we'll fix it later."  "We can't fix it now."  "But we will be able
> to!  Trust us!"

### To save all species you would need to kill many humans and enslave
most of the rest. Potentially hundreds of millions, if you are serious
about it. How many humans are you willing to kill or enslave to
protect species diversity? The choice is simple: either you forbid
human economic growth to protect wood lice, or else you accept that a
lot of wood lice will die so that a few billion brown and yellow
people get affluent. For me the decision is clear. I'd rather gamble
on not being able to resurrect ten million bugs in the next century,
than have hundreds of billions of humans suffer economic privation
today.

What I am saying amounts to "Let everybody first get rich, and *then*
worry about the flowers to put in their backyard", not some
Singularity stuff. You can trust the market to provide flowers and
other diversions once the demand is there.

-------------------------------------------------

>
> Genetic engineering misses the point, anyway.  Yeah, we might be able to
> make something, but what?  It's not just the diversity, it's the
> *design*, and the encoded history of the Earth, in the diversity today;
> that wouldn't be possible to replicate.

### Well, yes, this is what I am missing here - why would you insist
on replicating anything? Who cares for Evolution's trivial musings if
you can write new code even today, and will write better tomorrow?

Rafal


-- 
Rafal Smigrodzki, MD-PhD
Chief Clinical Officer,
Gencia Corporation
706 B Forest St.

Charlottesville, VA 22903

tel: (434) 295-4800

fax: (434) 295-4951



This electronic message transmission contains information from the
biotechnology firm of Gencia Corporation which may be confidential or
privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the
individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended
recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use
of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have
received this electronic transmission in error, please notify us by
telephone (434-295-4800) or by electronic mail
(fportell at genciabiotech.com) immediately.