Re: Dyson (Was: Paths to Uploading)

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• [ Next ][ Previous ] In reply to: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky

> I don't think that socialism/Libertarianism has anything to do with lack
> of personal integrity. It is possible to be a socialist and still have
> plenty of personal integrity; it's just stupid, because socialism has
> been demonstrated not to work. Personal integrity is defined by your
> unswerving adherence to high ideals for deeply altruistic reasons, not
> the intelligence or stupidity manifest in choosing those ideals.

I'm not so sure the two are separable. I have no beef with those who /desire/ things like egalitarianism, altruism, and other such silly things; but to actually advocate the use of force to bring them about does indeed reflect upon one's personal values. If one advocates mandating irrational social policies, then one's commitment to reason in other matters is called into question.

Einstein did not merely long for a socialist world; he actively called for government to bring it about by force. He can perhaps be partially forgiven by the fact that in his day, socialism had not yet proven itself the abject failure we see so clearly today.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC

• [ Next ][ Previous ] In reply to: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky