Re: Subjective brain speed

Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
07 Jan 1998 01:11:28 +0100


Michael Lorrey <retroman@together.net> writes:

> However, the feature of extropianism/transhumanism that
> interests young people a lot is the idea of getting smart without all of
> the tiring, boring, pain in the butt studying.

Yes, this is IMHO a big problem that will grow even larger. I call it
"miracle pill transhumanism" - the idea seems to be that one day Santa
will arrive with a nanotech pill that will make us transhuman
superbeings. No need to worry, just wait for the Singularity. I have
even seen some people become disaffected with transhumanism because
"nothing happens"; they don't see their pill on the horizon, and miss
the true meaning of Dolly, Polly, supramolecular chemistry and agent
technology, so they conclude that transhumanism is bunk.

Becoming transhuman requires a lot of hard work, careful planning and
serious interest. One can certainly improve oneself in one's spare
time, but to truly grow one have to make it a central part of one's
life and not just a hobby.

> People don't want to be wise, they want to
> be 'smart'. Therein lies the difference.

So, how to convince people that Wisdom Amplification is as important
as Intelligence Amplification?

-- 
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Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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