>From: Robin Hanson <rhanson@gmu.edu>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.org
>To: extropians@extropy.org
>Subject: Fear of Letting People Get Things They Want
>Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 21:38:35 -0400
>
>We want to change ourselves, to make ourselves richer, smarter, and more
>able.
>And others don't seem terribly excited by this. Why? One simple theory is
>that
>they are afraid of what we would do with such powers.
>
>If you need a vivid demonstration, try the following question on people you
>know:
>
>"A random person in the world will be chosen, and you get this choice:
>a) Let them have $X more worth of real resources (such as by telling them
>where
>to find an oil reserve that would otherwise remain unfound.)
>b) Nothing happens.
>Which do you choose?
>
I would choose not to give it to him. I do so because I know that if this
person (person Y) is wealthier, then that means that whatever wealth I have,
is lessened. If Joe X wants to sell some property and I want to buy it, then
have if I let this person Y have the oil wealth which would otherwise remain
unfound, then there is more competition for the property I bidding for, and
the price goes up.
Wealth is relative, in many respects (and this does not pertain to
heightened standards of living caused by the accumulation of the benefits of
technology & engineering, etc).
So why do people choose not to let this person Y have the wealth, and why do
we not know why they make this decision?
Because people make these types of decisions without thinking. They don't
have to think about it. There is a survival advantage to thinking this way;
it's bred into us over eons.
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