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I think you're misinterpreting me a little. I don't think history is over. I'm just saying that I get the sense that everyone else does. :) I've toyed around w
by api 12y ago
I think you're misinterpreting me a little. I don't think history is over. I'm just saying that I get the sense that everyone else does. :)
I've toyed around with a few radical thoughts recently, but political ideology isn't my bag so it's just private speculation.
One is that the problem with socialist schemes is that they don't really address the root of inequality. It's become kind of clear to me that the root is heritable inequality of both the genetic sort and the inherited-privilege sort.
So I've speculated a little about some sort of "transhumanist socialism" that would attempt to address inequality at the biological level by making both germ-line and postnatal enhancements universally available. The idea would be to transform humanity itself into a runaway self-improving AI by siphoning off some percentage of GDP and applying it to the artificial redistribution of beneficial adaptations and the augmentation of human intelligence across familial lines. By far the best thing to be taxed here would be inheritance, since the whole aim is to break heritable inequality.
It's the sort of idea that would make everyone's head explode. Most dogmatic libertarians would hate it since it contains the word "socialism" and involves some sort of wealth redistribution. Liberals are all greens now that worship the naturalistic fallacy, so they'd all scream "no GMO!" Conservatives would hate it since it's theologically sacrilegious and would disrupt the social order rather deeply.
Makes me think I'm on the right track. :)
- anextio 12y agoAh yes, I think we might actually be somewhat on the same page, at least in terms of our exploration of these things.
- eli_gottlieb 12y ago>So I've speculated a little about some sort of "transhumanist socialism" that would attempt to address inequality at the biological level by making both germ-line and postnatal enhancements universally available. The idea would be to transform humanity itself into a runaway self-improving AI by siphoning off some percentage of GDP and applying it to the artificial redistribution of beneficial adaptations and the augmentation of human intelligence across familial lines. By far the best thing to be taxed here would be inheritance, since the whole aim is to break heritable inequality. Technically speaking, "anarcho-transhumanism" is an existing ideology, but... PLEASE DO THIS. I'm freaking salivating. I mean, screw "runaway AI", but yes, hell yes, let's go ahead and slaughter inequality and injustice at their source, and unleash everything that people can be and aren't allowed to right now because their "betters" wouldn't get to feel a hierarchical status difference in their retarded ape-brains.
- minthd 12y agoI wouldn't be surprised to learn that real time fmri neurofeedback would enable people to train to reduce /eliminate bad feeling due to hierarchy in the near the near future <10 years .
- api 12y agoWhat you're talking about is "desire control" -- the ability to "choose what you want to want." While you could do what you say, you could also do a billion other things. I consider desire control to be one of the most subversive technologies possible. We are to a great extent enslaved through the manipulation of inborn and conditioned desire. If we can manipulate our own desires... I'd expect the first applications to be essentially medicinal: helping people overcome persistent unwanted urges like addictions, pedophilia, or obsessive compulsive disorders. But think about where it could go from there. Making yourself "want to work" for example could be either empowering or disempowering depending on the context. Making yourself not care about hierarchy could be both as well. For example: how much money could you save if you genuinely no longer cared about status symbols?
- minthd 12y agoI agree, such technologies could be of huge importance in the future,possibly far more than most breakthrough technologies we hear about from the media. On the other hand, we hear almost nothing about such "desire/mind shaping" technologies, and in general people people show little interest in them. I wonder, why is that?