[extropy-chat] What the #$?! are rights anyway?

[The Avantguardian]

--- Damien Sullivan <phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu> wrote:
> You can derive a lot just from social contract --
> what would rough
> equals agree to?  Not everything, e.g. it doesn't
> give a great reason
> for a majority to not exploit a distinct minority. 
> That I think needs
> supplementation from lots of people deciding they
> don't like it and
> fighting to establish their preference.

I am hoping that there might be something superior to
social contract theory. Especially since as you say it
does not protect minorities from majorities. Also it
does not speak to the cause of individuals apart from
society. What if for example we are speaking of a
hermit? Or a unique non-human entity (the first AGI or
ET)? Is the fact that ET is not part of "society" mean
that we can dissect him?


Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"What I am going to tell you about is what we teach our physics students in the third or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does." - Richard Feynman on QM

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