From: Phil Osborn (philosborn@altavista.com)
Date: Sun Feb 17 2002 - 16:52:24 MST
Sound almost like Christianity. Isn't this mortal realm (substitute "virtual universe") supposed to be God's test, with the successful candidates going on to serve Him forever after? Perhaps this is actually the most efficient way to produce unique intelligences.
I recall a talk given by Roddenbury in which he described his creative process, by which he created the Star Trek universe and its characters. He went to a room with a desk and a sheet of paper. He drew a line down the middle of the paper. On one side, he wrote "Me." On the other, he wrote "Spock." Then he had a conversation with Spock on the paper. Spock's personality, background, Vulcan history, etc., all came out of this dialog.
At one point, Roddenbury realized he was getting original answers that he had never consciously thought of, so he asked Spock what the purpose of the universe was. Spock replied something like, "Well, it's obvious that it's a hothouse for developing intelligences."
I know its a sign of incipient schizophrenia - NO I Don't! - to assume that the universe is centered around ones self, but one does have to deal with the Fermi Paradox somehow. The Hindus assumed that since the metaverse had always existed, then everything that could happen had happened an infinite number of times. So, the universe was actually orchestrated by the ultimate product of evolution, Who plays with it for his pleasure, bringing new species into existence and slowly modifying and permuting them as play and art - explaining the appearance of Darwinian evolution. The successful ones keep being reincarnated in some way, ultimately graduating into becoming a direct and conscious part of the One.
>Robert J. Bradbury wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2002, Mark Walker wrote:
>
>
>>Here's a sad thought: everytime our civilization verges on discovering nano and
>>SIAI history is reset.
>>
>
> I wonder if Eliezer ever experiences Deja Vu?
>
> :-)
> R.
>
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