[extropy-chat] Is the future under control?

[Randall Randall]

On Jan 15, 2007, at 12:01 PM, Anders Sandberg wrote:
> As for the control of the future: whenever I hear somebody say that
> technology is out of control and must be controlled, I ask what  
> they think
> about art. Clearly art is out of control, you are allowed to paint and
> sculpt in any style you like, with any subject you can come up with  
> and
> affecting any mind coming into contact with it. Shouldn't that be put
> under societal control? After all, art affects society as deeply as
> technology. Usually "we must bring X under control" means that "I  
> want to
> control it according to my values".

And what do you say when they tentatively agree with you
about art?

I've abandoned this kind of argument precisely because
in the last 5-10 years (in the US), I usually find that
people are willing to consider *anything* as being more
properly under government control.  There doesn't seem
to be any presumption that there are things which the
government should stay out of, and when I bring up *that*
idea, I find that I've put myself in crazy-land, from
the perspective of those around me.

Most of this is in offline interaction, of course.


--
Randall Randall <randall at randallsquared.com>
"This is a fascinating question, right up there with whether rocks
fall because of gravity or being dropped, and whether 3+5=5+3
because addition is commutative or because they both equal 8."
   - Scott Aaronson