Philip, But the connection between present events and the Singularitarian future isn't all that easy to calculate.
Bush, in addition to carrying out his questionable acts of foreign policy & tax reform, will probably boost DARPA's budget more than Kerry would. Perhaps this will result in more money for blue-sky nanotech research, resulting in world-transforming nanotech coming about ten years earlier than it would have otherwise, and saving the human race from oblivion. Or maybe not. On balance, I suspect that Bush being re-elected would be worse for the long-term future of humanity than otherwise. However, it's not THAT crystal-clear to me because there are so many complex factors involved. And I don't think that, at this stage, anyone has a clear enough view to make a significantly more certain assessment. -- Ben -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Philip Sutton Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 8:06 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [agi] Re: AI boxing Hi Ben, > One thing I agree with Eliezer Yudkowsky on is: Worrying about how to > increase the odds of AGI, nanotech and biotech saving rather than > annihilating the human race, is much more worthwhile than worrying > about who is President of the US. It's the nature of evolution that getting to a preferred future depends on getting through every particular today between here and there. So the two issues above may not be as disconnected as you suggest. :) Cheers, Philip ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
