>Probabilistically, the participants of this list are unlikely to
>effect measurable impacts upon these future developments. Even
>worse, I still think careful mentation, idea gestation and
>long-winded, good-humoured mutual bickering on diverse mailing
>lists and (goodheavensforbid) usenet newsgroups are essentially
>incompatible with accomplishing any of these things we so like
>to talk about. (We the cheerleaders, not the sweating crew out
>in the field. I'd be delighted to be proven wrong, though.
>Anyway, even spectator status has got its intrinsic benefits).
I view participating in this list as a hobby. My first priority is raising
my kids. My second priority is being nice to my wife. My third priority is
using artificial intelligence to (voluntarily) separate people from their
money, which then flows to my corporate masters. Making the world more
transhuman is somewhere around twelfth priority, just below keeping the yard
nice.
I suspect my job, though not directly aimed at making people more godlike,
has a greater positive effect on the future of humanity than all my posting
to this list. At least I'm making machines a little smarter and the economy
a little more efficient.
--CarlF