I think it will be very necessary to carefully frame what it would be that we might wish to accomplish as a group, and what not. I say this because I’m one of those who thinks that humanity has less than a 50% chance of surviving the next 100 years, but I have no interest in trying to avert this. I am very much in favour of humanity evolving into something a lot more rational than what it is now, and I don’t really see how one can justify saying that such a race would still be ‘humanity’. On the other hand, if the worry is the extinction of all rational thought, or the extinction of certain, carefully chosen, memes, I might very well wish to help out.
The main problem, as I see it, is in being clear on what we want to have happen (and what not) and what we can do to make the preferred outcomes more likely. The more I examine the entire issues, the harder it appears to define how to distinguish between the good and the bad outcomes.
I wonder how many rationalists share this view. If a significant number, it would be worthwhile to even discuss this first, in hopes to muster a broader consensus about what the group should do or even to just be aware of the reasons for lack of agreement.
I think it will be very necessary to carefully frame what it would be that we might wish to accomplish as a group, and what not. I say this because I’m one of those who thinks that humanity has less than a 50% chance of surviving the next 100 years, but I have no interest in trying to avert this. I am very much in favour of humanity evolving into something a lot more rational than what it is now, and I don’t really see how one can justify saying that such a race would still be ‘humanity’. On the other hand, if the worry is the extinction of all rational thought, or the extinction of certain, carefully chosen, memes, I might very well wish to help out.
The main problem, as I see it, is in being clear on what we want to have happen (and what not) and what we can do to make the preferred outcomes more likely. The more I examine the entire issues, the harder it appears to define how to distinguish between the good and the bad outcomes.
I wonder how many rationalists share this view. If a significant number, it would be worthwhile to even discuss this first, in hopes to muster a broader consensus about what the group should do or even to just be aware of the reasons for lack of agreement.