From: Brett Paatsch (paatschb@ocean.com.au)
Date: Thu Mar 27 2003 - 15:32:16 MST
Anders writes:
> On Wed, Mar 26, 2003 at 11:31:52AM -0500, John K Clark wrote:
>
> > I'd like to hear the opinion of some of the very bright people
> > on this list, do you think Saddam Hussein is alive?
> It doesn't matter, because he has in some sense transcended.
Yes.
> Apparently he has delegated command (this is inferred from
> strategy and al-Jazeera analysis, so it is not certain of course)
> to his generals. Normally this would be suicidal for any dictator
> to do, and Saddam previously ran the standard ultra-centralized
> approach to government. But in his current situation this would
> actually delay the inevitable, and maybe give him time to get to
> his secret moonbase or whatever. If he can just keep out of sight
> he will be as invisible and invincible as Osama. He better not
> leave any smoking shoes on the slopes of Etna, of course... [Ob
> classicist reference]
Not so obscure.
Brave Empirocles,
ardent soul,
lept into Mt Etna,
and was roasted whole.
Bertrand Russell. History of Western Philosophy from memory. I'm
not sure about the spelling of "Empirocles". I'm a bit better on 'songs'
than 'singers'. I'd look it up, but then it wouldn't be from memory ;-)
>
> To get this back into transhumanism (after all, otherwise this
> issue shouldn't even be discussed on this list): This kind of
> "immortality by delegation" is actually interesting from a
> functionalist perspective. If you are defined by your function,
> by what you do, then you could actually be replaced by another
> external system doing the same functions.
Ok.
> ...
> But as my colleauges have pointed out, why
> not replace myself by a set of very good actors? These actors
> would learn everything relevant about the behavior and
> motivations of me, and eventually take my place. My own argument
> against this is of course that many of my internal processes
> which are only (and can only be) privately known such as my
> consciousness, would not be transferred in such a scheme.
But what of it? If you are looking at it from a functionalist perspective?
>...
> Similarly with Saddam; by having enough people acting as
> if he was alive and according to his will, he is in some sense
> uploaded within the social matrix of Iraq.
Resurrected in replica. Powerful memetic warfare if one can
pull it off.
Regards,
Brett Paatsch
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