From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Thu Sep 04 2003 - 17:02:42 MDT
On Thu, Sep 04, 2003 at 01:21:49PM -0700, Robert J. Bradbury wrote:
>
> SHT = "Stupid Human Tricks"
>
> Can anyone on the list who understands British culture
> better than I explain this phenomena:
I don't think it is British culture, it is primate behavior.
Groups of young males band together and "have fun", which
usually includes plenty of group pressure and covert jockeying
for the position as being the alpha male (= least inhibited,
strongest and with greatest endurance). No serious social
consequences for breaking norms since nobody knows you where
you go, and many cultural strictures felt as oppressive are
removed which leads to disinhibition. And we humans are better
than chimpanzees at finding intoxicants.
(Swedes do the same kind of trips; I hear that some parts of
central Europe complain that we have not become any better
since the Thirty Years War and the looting of Prague)
> Lord knows what the implications of this kind of behavior
> would be if people had personal replicators.
Hmm. Note that the issue isn't liquor availability (at least
not in the UK, Sweden is a slightly odd case there) but social
behavior.
Maybe one should have an alcohol lock on the replicator. "No
sir, you have nanofactured quite enough whiskey for tonight.
May I assemble some electrolytes for you?"
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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