RE: Truth machines

Billy Brown (bbrown@conemsco.com)
Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:23:48 -0600

Eliezer S. Yudkowsky wrote:
> Limiting the range of intelligence would absolutely be a bad thing, and
> creative lying is definitely a form of intelligence. I, author of "The
> Ethics of Cognitive Engineering", formally state that this modification
> should be forbidden except in the most extreme cases of informed
> consent. (This comes from the person who doesn't think there's anything
> particularly wrong with performing _enhancive_ neurosurgery
> on small children.)

I agree. It disturbs me that so many otherwise freedom-loving people seem to be endorsing the idea of mandatory truth testing. If I can be required to submit to truth testing every time someone want to know what I really think about something, then I have lost a fundamental freedom. It is only a short step from there to universal thought monitoring - and the step is technological, not ideological.

Billy Brown, MCSE+I
bbrown@conemsco.com