Re: "Sound and Fury" over enhancements

From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Wed Jan 09 2002 - 15:41:46 MST


Brian D Williams wrote:
>
> >From: hal@finney.org
>
> >For Mike and his fellow conservative ideologues, consider an
> >intelligence enhancement for your children which has an observed
> >side effect: almost all of them become Socialists. Quel horreur!
>
> Then clearly the intelligence enhancement was a failure, give Greg
> Burch or one of his associates a call.

Not to mention Hal's claim is false. Just heard on the radio today of a
British study of the impact of wealth on health and happiness, which
found that increased wealth correlated directly with an increase in
mental health and happiness/self esteem. This obviously contradicts the
popular socialist notion that wealth does not equal happiness, so it
follows that those continuing to adhere to socialist mindsets are of
lower intelligence, and are therefore those who need the upgrade.

>
> >It's not implausible: in fact in many of the most difficult and
> >esoteric branches of science and mathematics, branches which
> >require the highest levels of sheer abstract intelligence to
> >thrive, Socialism and allied political philosophies are
> >widespread. I remember reading an obituary in The Mathematical
> >Intelligencer which went to some length to apologize for the fact
> >that the deceased was not a Socialist. He was still a decent guy,
> >the obit hastened to explain, he just had this one little
> >political blind spot.

I'd have to contest this. While the particular political agenda of the
Mathematical Intelligencer only indicates its own blind spots, in my
experience it is those scientists who practice in the real world: i.e.
engineers, who overwhelmingly are anti-socialist (and they generally
have a dim view of scientists who spend their lives in the Ivory tower.



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