X-Message-Number: 16921
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 09:58:40 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: longevity alone will improve us

Hi everyone!

Mike Perry raises an interesting issue in his post. What will happen to
WAR? I personally do not think that it will require any fundamental
change in our structure (other than VASTLY INCREASED EXPECTATION OF
LIFESPAN) to change the rate at which we perform wars. They may also
remain with us indefinitely, but in a form which we may find hard
to recognize.

1. We will know far more people more intimately than we do now. This
   includes people of different races and nationalities. This will
    act against random killing of those of the other side. Even 
   if we don't know someone, we may someday meet them and find them
   helpful.

2. War now involves people killing one another. If the purpose is not
   direct killing but instead the achievement of some kind of advantage
   then we're likely to have lots more means to act than now. For
   instance, a war in which the "infantrymen" and others who meet
   now with murder in their heart become robots. So all the living
   people get to watch the contest between robots. This isn't something
   that can arrive easily by mere convention: we must actually have
   robots capable of fighting better than any human being.

3. Looked at long term, it's not obvious that force works at except in
   special cases. I give some below, but if we become oriented to 
   long term solutions rather than those that only last a few years
   of a currently expected human life, then forcing others to do what
   we want just won't look like the best solution at all.

   Are there cases in which it works? Yes. If one party (for some 
   special reason) really wants to wipe out another party, then
    that is a case in which force will work. When done there's
  nothing left of the other party, literally. I do not see this
   happening often, but then history can take up lots of time.

Simply by living much longer, and expecting much longer life, our
psychology will change. In one sense it is the very same kind of
brain as before, but our notion of what is a reasonable time to do
something, and our acquaintance with many other people, will change
our attitudes. Will we have become "better" people? A lot depends
on how that is defined, but I would say basically not. We will be
living in a far more fortunate period than any we have yet seen.
And that's the only difference.

		Best wishes and long long life to all,

			Tomas Donaldson

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