Re: Hiveminds and the Great Filter

Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Tue, 09 Mar 1999 07:02:36 -0600

Delvieron@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hiveminds, where are they?
>
> Perhaps defeated by the first post-Singularity Power they encounter?

Yeah? You mean the Power would, not just vaporize any intruding spaceships, but traverse N galaxies to get the WHOLE civilization? Okay, no problem. Maybe it picks it up as soon as it sees radio emissions. Also, no problem. But if the Powers are that altruistic, or mortal-phobic, or whatever, why aren't THEY here?

The worst part is, the blasted answer is probably obvious. I've got the feeling that this whole problem was set up DELIBERATELY, as a means of communication, so that there's only one *possible* answer, which is immediately obvious to the first transhuman on the planet. I'm smart enough to hear Them screaming the answer in my ear, but not smart enough to understand it. 

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