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I think that for humanity to "move forward"/"become interplanetary" or what have you, this is a necessary step. Being selfish however, I am afraid of being rend

by sannee 9y ago

I think that for humanity to "move forward"/"become interplanetary" or what have you, this is a necessary step. Being selfish however, I am afraid of being rendered useless by the incoming generation of superhumans :)

Jach 9y ago
Why not have a kid to rid you of some of that selfishness? What parent doesn't want their children to be better in every sense than they were? For myself it'd be nice to join the superhuman future directly (CRISPR? Mind emulation? Cyborg replacements?), but I'd settle for them being nice to me like present society is nice to its retired elders.
gwern 9y ago
> Being selfish however, I am afraid of being rendered useless by the incoming generation of superhumans :) Don't worry, you still have at least a decade and half to start saving up & investing in global stock indexes. A rising tide lifts global equity indexes!
thinkfurther 9y ago
Being a snob, I'm already bored by the incoming generation of bland, obedient.. hobbits. Eugenics to life to me is like pitch correction to singing, it's missing the point entirely. edit: am I not allowed to my opinion? How is that less constructive than someone they're worried about being rendered useless? That's also just some random person giving their personal outlook. But okay, I'll also give my 2 cents on leaving the planet as well: yeah, genetical engineering or transfering minds to machines would surely be necessary if you want to spread across the galaxy. But the shit non-skillfull way we treat ourselves and other life on this abundant Earth so far makes this also a more boring prospect to me than I wish it was. As people pointed out in the article about software bloat, there is no pressure anymore -- why not go all the way and go back to emailing BMP images? Similarly, if we "solve" our problems by leaving Earth, instead of mastering the lessons we so shamefully fail so far, instead of reaching a whole different ballpark of skill and tradition, letting that sink for another 100000 years, and then embracing technology to its full extent and blooming all over the galaxy -- it will be boring and lame compared to what we could be. It's like betting on aliens all being schmucks, too; if they aren't, they will not be impressed. I like tightness, beauty, skill. Sue me. > Ah, yeah. We're gonna go to Mars. And then of course we're gonna colonize deep space. With our microwave hot dogs and plastic vomit, fake dog shit and cinnamon dental floss, lemon-scented toilet paper and sneakers with lights in the heels. And all these other impressive things we've done down here. But let me ask you this: what are we gonna tell the intergalactic council of ministers the first time one of our teenage mothers throws their newborn baby into a dumpster? How are we gonna explain that to the space people? How are we gonna let them know that our ambassador was only late for the meeting because his breakfast was cold and he had to spend half an hour punching his wife around the kitchen? And what are they gonna think when they find out, its just a local custom, that over 80 million women in the Third world have had their clitorises forcibly removed in order to reduce their sexual pleasure so they won't cheat on their husbands? Can't you just sense how eager the rest of the universe is for us to show up? -- George Carlin, "Complaints and Grievances" Look at George Carlin, and look at China, and tell me they're not a bunch of pussies. Heh.

by sannee 9y ago

Jach 9y ago

Why not have a kid to rid you of some of that selfishness? What parent doesn't want their children to be better in every sense than they were? For myself it'd be nice to join the superhuman future directly (CRISPR? Mind emulation? Cyborg replacements?), but I'd settle for them being nice to me like present society is nice to its retired elders.

gwern 9y ago

> Being selfish however, I am afraid of being rendered useless by the incoming generation of superhumans :) Don't worry, you still have at least a decade and half to start saving up & investing in global stock indexes. A rising tide lifts global equity indexes!

thinkfurther 9y ago

Being a snob, I'm already bored by the incoming generation of bland, obedient.. hobbits. Eugenics to life to me is like pitch correction to singing, it's missing the point entirely. edit: am I not allowed to my opinion? How is that less constructive than someone they're worried about being rendered useless? That's also just some random person giving their personal outlook. But okay, I'll also give my 2 cents on leaving the planet as well: yeah, genetical engineering or transfering minds to machines would surely be necessary if you want to spread across the galaxy. But the shit non-skillfull way we treat ourselves and other life on this abundant Earth so far makes this also a more boring prospect to me than I wish it was. As people pointed out in the article about software bloat, there is no pressure anymore -- why not go all the way and go back to emailing BMP images? Similarly, if we "solve" our problems by leaving Earth, instead of mastering the lessons we so shamefully fail so far, instead of reaching a whole different ballpark of skill and tradition, letting that sink for another 100000 years, and then embracing technology to its full extent and blooming all over the galaxy -- it will be boring and lame compared to what we could be. It's like betting on aliens all being schmucks, too; if they aren't, they will not be impressed. I like tightness, beauty, skill. Sue me. > Ah, yeah. We're gonna go to Mars. And then of course we're gonna colonize deep space. With our microwave hot dogs and plastic vomit, fake dog shit and cinnamon dental floss, lemon-scented toilet paper and sneakers with lights in the heels. And all these other impressive things we've done down here. But let me ask you this: what are we gonna tell the intergalactic council of ministers the first time one of our teenage mothers throws their newborn baby into a dumpster? How are we gonna explain that to the space people? How are we gonna let them know that our ambassador was only late for the meeting because his breakfast was cold and he had to spend half an hour punching his wife around the kitchen? And what are they gonna think when they find out, its just a local custom, that over 80 million women in the Third world have had their clitorises forcibly removed in order to reduce their sexual pleasure so they won't cheat on their husbands? Can't you just sense how eager the rest of the universe is for us to show up? -- George Carlin, "Complaints and Grievances" Look at George Carlin, and look at China, and tell me they're not a bunch of pussies. Heh.