Re: Future Technologies of Death

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Fri, 26 Dec 1997 15:03:20 -0800 (PST)


> > I think this last question is the salient point: if we
> > don't have death as a means of selection, what will take
> > its place? Speed of expansion? Control of resources?
> >
> The problem is already solved....
>
> I, my clones, my multiple bodies, selves and variations, constitute
> a SPECIES.

True enough; but also true of the species Geoffrey Dahmer, and
species Ted Bundy,...

My problem is that I want to take some action to ensure that the
Species Lee Crocker encounters a lot more Hara Ras than John Wayne
Gacys. Historically, evolution has selected the fit by the simple
expedient of killing off the unfit. And its criterion of judgment
was nothing more than that very act: staying alive to reproduce.

In the new phase of memetic evolution, where "we" are teleological
threads of execution, represented by patterns of mass-energy, and
acting upon resources of mass-energy, how can progress be achieved
without risking the creation of errant threads and killing them
off when necessary?

--
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