> Hal Finney wrote:
> >All the transhumanist art in the world is not going to turn us into
> >transhumans. Only technology can do that.
>
> A moot point, but it could also be said that all the technology in
> the world is not going to change the social attitude toward scientific
> advances. Art is crucial to that. Bottom line is this: that both
"It could also be said" (by an economist) that given a diversity of competing
cultures technology will change attitudes, far more than art. Or rather,
societies which adopt useful advances will outcompete ones that don't.
I suppose that could be rephrased as "societies which are inspired by their
art or not inhibited by it will outcompete those whose art causes them to
avoid technology". I don't know if the withdrawals of Ming China and
pre-Perry Japan can be linked to their art.
-xx- Damien R. Sullivan X-)