X-Message-Number: 15879
From: 
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:57:32 EST
Subject: savants; happiness

Patrick Swayze (#15875) has some good comments about savant capabilities and 
human improvability. This is similar to some of my comments in MAN INTO 
SUPERMAN--I said we don't need to invent superhumans, only assemble them from 
existing material, in a manner of speaking, taking (where compatible) the 
best from existing individuals and existing species, and also "slaving" 
computers to the brain as prostheses. It should become possible also to 
retrofit cryopatients to make us just as super as the latest generation.

However, this does not altogether avoid potential "singularity" or "spike" 
problems. When Damien Broderick said "all bets are off or moot" in event of a 
spike, I think he meant, at least in part, that there might be drastically 
new conditions of life and new outlooks, regardless of whether conscious 
computers are ruling the roost, and the results would be almost totally 
unpredictable. 

But, to repeat myself, there is no assurance that the results of 
revolutionary ideas would spread like lightning. After all, there are 
physical as well as societal constraints. You might be able to grow a factory 
with nanotech, once you were able to design and fabricate the seeds and plant 
them in prepared ground, but trees don't grow to the sky, and especially not 
in a day, and there are always lots of unexpected problems to be shaken out 
before the prototype is finished. 

Thomas Donaldson voiced questions about definitions of "happiness" and its 
relation to achievement etc. From a cryonics standpoint, I think the thing to 
remember is that "happiness" ("morale" or possibly "zest" might be a better 
word here) is to a considerable extent just a question of chemistry or 
hormone balance as well as temperament. Young and healthy people are rarely 
depressed for any length of time, whereas old and sick people may not even 
have the energy to WANT anything except surcease. 

Of course, habits are important too. I am old and tired, and have lost Mae, 
but I keep going and even keep developing new ideas and projects. I'm not 
bragging, because my failures dwarf my achievements by almost any measure; 
this is just a reminder that doing predisposes one to doing, while just 
complaining sets the stage for default. As Mae always said, we have little 
control over the environment in the short run, but we have considerable 
(subjective) freedom of choice in our own actions, reactions and outlooks. 
You don't always get what you choose, but you're more likely to get it if you 
choose it and work for it.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
http://www.cryonics.org

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