Re: The Extropian Principles

Kurt Rongey (ldm@fastlane.net)
Mon, 29 Jul 1996 23:18:38 -0500


Ben Goertzel:
> >The spread of MicroSoft software is much like the spread of
> >a foreign bacterium in the human body. A healthy body has
> >an immune system which keeps any substance (internal or
> >external) from rising to an excessive level. One can imagine
> >a social system which had similar internal, self-organizing
> >mechanisms acting to keep things decentralized

John K. Clark:
> I don't understand what prevents this mysterious regulatory mechanism from
> falling victim to the same "increasing returns" and "positive feedback" you
> so fear, especially when you consider that even at the start it MUST be more
> powerful than Microsoft if it is to have any hope of regulating it.

Kurt Rongey:
In fact, the state itself has increased in size, economic impact and
physical power throughout history due to "increasing returns."

Increasing returns in the business world only seem to work for a while.
Eventually, a company's increasing returns turn it into an obese,
sluggish
blob. Increasing competitive forces and decreasing agility and
foresight
eventually cause its downfall, or at least downsizing.

There are, however, no forces to compete against the state, except for
other states.

============================
Kurt Rongey ===============
ldm@fastlane.net ==========
http://www.fastlane.net/~ldm
============================