From: Jef Allbright (jef@jefallbright.net)
Date: Sun Aug 03 2003 - 12:39:03 MDT
BillK wrote:
> I have generally tended to agree with Lee's previous statement that we
> are alone and there are no aliens out there waiting to pounce on us.
>
> But there is another alternative that I don't remember anyone
> mentioning. Look around you. Old folk with a good pension or a pile of
> assets don't do much. Sitting on your porch in a rocking chair seems
> like a good deal to them. It is the young who haven't made their pile
> who rush around 'doing' things.
>
I think it's most likely there are "old folk" out there who's activities are
inscruitable and invisible to us, but rather than existing sedately I expect
they're experiencing life at a level of complexity and meaning beyond our
current comprehension.
> It's rather like a self-confident young man stating with supreme assurance
that
> 'marriage and kids won't change me in the slightest'.
Similarly it amazes me when people talk about vastly extending their
capabilities and longevity but then imagine that they would then pursue
their current hedonistic goals (or maybe just one copy to this). Even the
idea of boundless physical expansion, while possessing a certain
mathematical symmetry, I think is based on our evolved drive for procreation
and won't match posthuman values.
- Jef
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