Re: Rights (Was Re: Violence in schools)

From: Eugene Leitl (eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Wed Oct 04 2000 - 14:59:18 MDT


Brian Atkins writes:

> Wow that sounds exactly like something out of a dystopian sci-fi novel.
 
Unfortunately, that one is not a movie script, it's for real.
 
> I suppose you are not a believer in free will- these people once detected

Free will? Huh? Relevance to the issue at hand?

> should be locked away by the government since they are absolutely guaranteed

I don't care who does it, though I'm not a particular subscriber to
the efficiency of governments.

> to kill someone at some time (we just can't tell when darn it!). Or even if

Actually, I wasn't referring to isolated homicides, regretful as they
might be.

> not, the extra sleep we will get at night is worth it right?

I do appreciate the sarcasm, but are you really sure that the problem
of intelligent persons without compassion in command of Armageddon
technologies (nevermind the occasional rape or serial killing, they're
statistically irrelevant, unless you happen to be the afflicted parent
or spouse) is really insubstantial? On the long run?

In blind faith, because you instinctively feel it to be unethical?
Without even warranting a further study, quantifying the problem?
Apart from those unfortunates locked up for victimless crimes, you
should take a closer look at the people populating U.S. prisons (~1%
of total populace now, is it?). You'll find some of the psychopaths
highly enrichened there (though probably still constituting a minority
even after abstracting victimless crime inmates), though largely
lacking the smart ones. Since these rarely get caught.

Admittedly, I'm going out on a limb here, proposing existance of
something I can't easily prove in hard numbers. But you should talk to
some people in law enforcement. And there are some papers out there,
anecdotal though they are.

(Of course, all this is only of tangential relevance of the AI golem
thing. Despite me being nice enough to volunteer enough rope to knot a
dozen nooses. Double nyahnyah).



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