[tt] [wta-talk] Dystopian Futures: Human race will 'split into twodifferent species'

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Ralph <figment at boone.net> -----

From: Ralph <figment at boone.net>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:55:44 -0400
To: World Transhumanist Association Discussion List <wta-talk at transhumanism.org>
Subject: Re: [wta-talk] Dystopian Futures: Human race will 'split into
	twodifferent species'
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138
Reply-To: World Transhumanist Association Discussion List <wta-talk at transhumanism.org>




   [1]Dagon Gmail wrote...



     > What a ridiculous prediction! Barring some terrible disaster,
     > we willcontrol our own evolution within a matter of decades.
     The vast majority of humans, even those who have read a book,
     remain
     stuck in the old paradigm of slow, crawling steady change. I will
     take
     sadistic glee seeing them squirm when thing go different.



   The real problem is that so many things are rushing to a climax at
   breathtaking speed. On global warming, so many of the so-called
   pessimists are still talking about major changes happening in a
   century, or half a century, or in a decade or two, and meanwhile
   dozens of U.S. cities have less than a hundred days of water of left
   in their reserves and methane (22.6 times as powerful a greenhouse gas
   as CO2) is bubbling out of Russian, Canadian and Alaskan lakes, one of
   several accelerating factors threatening a runaway global meltdown.
   Agriculture has been taking massive hits, worldwide, though
   commentators like to blame some of the shortages on ethanol production
   rather than intense, multi-year droughts such as the one expanding
   from its base in America's Southeast and Great Plains (one reason
   for the water shortages in New Jersey) and also assailing agricultural
   exporters like Australia, even as massive flooding hits other regions.



   On the other hand, something as prosaic as a last-gasp attack on Iran
   could close the Strait of Hormuz (see supersonic Sunburn missles),
   collapse world oil supplies, and bring on an energy crisis for which
   we are all-but-unprepared.



   With regards to intelligence augmentation, our main question, barring
   colossal disaster (see above) is which field or combination of
   fields will make dramatic breakthroughs first, and how soon. Because
   of the very real threats now breathing down our necks, a race is on,
   and it doesn't require any rogue nanotechnology or AIs to pose a grave
   or even existential threat to our survival. Fortunately, the weather
   and, even more obviously, the availability of clean water for
   drinking, cleaning, cooking and other uses are such overwhelming
   issues when they come to a head that many people are starting to focus
   on them as real concerns that can't just be put aside for 'more
   important things.' We have to settle at least the most dramatic
   threats, or die.



   Unless of course you have uploaded, and can survive without drinking
   water or the grid. In which case, good for you. =)

References

   1. mailto:dagonweb at gmail.com

_______________________________________________
wta-talk mailing list
wta-talk at transhumanism.org
http://www.transhumanism.org/mailman/listinfo/wta-talk


----- End forwarded message -----
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE