Re: The Second American Civil War

Eliezer Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Sun, 22 Dec 1996 23:27:09 -0600


> Are you including ALL drugs in this condemnation?

Nope. Make that: "I've been convinced that crack is evil."

> Are you saying that people aren't responsible for becoming
> addicted to crack?

Blaming people isn't my job. Let others look for a scapegoat; I don't
care.

< Drug users are already fucked up; the root problem lies in their
depression and lack of a will to live; if you take away crack they'll
just fuck up some other way. >

If I come up with cheap synthetic willpower (see "Algernon's Law", "Will
of Iron"), I'll be sure to distribute it. I've discovered the Meaning
of Life; that may help. As a social engineer, I'm a relative amateur,
but there are still some methods of positive feedback I could employ.

But that's all a matter for ordinary, law-abiding efforts to persuade
people with operating brains and free will. My special dispute is with
crack.

-- 
         sentience@pobox.com      Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
          http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/singularity.html
           http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/algernon.html
Disclaimer:  Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.