Re: pagets

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Wed, 2 Oct 1996 17:28:07 +0200 (MET DST)


On Mon, 30 Sep 1996, Lyle Burkhead wrote:

> As I said before, I don't think it is possible to miniaturize humans.
> But if I am wrong, I don't see how the Paget-scenario can be avoided.
> Small creatures (or robots) with human intelligence won't be our
> slaves, at least not very long. Assuming they really do have human
> intelligence, they will soon find a way to escape (perhaps with help
> from sympathetic humans, or humans with more schadenfreude than
> sense). Then we will try to hunt them down, and war will ensue.
> How else could it turn out?

That humans can destroy them more efficiently than they can reproduce.

That humans don't try to hunt them down (they are simply not important
enough), and they live more or less independently.

That they realize they can profit more from living as scavengers or
consultants to the humans.

See the galactic centre novels by Benford for some ideas along these
lines, although it is hard to say if the humans or the mechs are the
pagets. I strongly recommend those books, they have plenty of transhuman
ideas (uploads used as expert systems, neural enhancements, megascale
engineering, alien and artificial civilizations and what looks like
cosmic re-engineering).

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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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