X-Message-Number: 18424 From: "John de Rivaz" <> References: <> Subject: Re: postindustrial economic incentives Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 10:40:45 -0000 Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com my homepage links to Longevity Report, Fractal Report, music, Inventors' report, an autobio and various other projects: http://www.geocities.com/longevityrpt http://www.autopsychoice.com - http://www.cryonics-europe.org - http://www.porthtowan.com > Message #18413 > From: "Mark Plus" <> > Subject: postindustrial economic incentives > Of course, the structure of economic incentives could be changing. There > have been some semi-serious articles lately suggesting that the "New > Economy" is selecting in favor of men with a sort of high-functioning autism > called Asperger's Syndrome, which seems characterized by single-minded > obsessions with scientific, mathematical and technical problems, along with > significant social retardation. That is fine as long as the social retardation does not result in a sort of James Bond Film "Lunatic Baddie" who tries to take over or destroy the world. Maybe bin Laden was one such person? I suppose if these people are socially inadequate *and* are treated badly as a result of people taking advanatage of them, then they could consider themselves to be justified in responding in such a manner. > Historians generally attribute the classical world's stagnation to the > widespread practice of slavery, which freed up a small elite to explore and > find patterns in their subjective white noise, at first called philosophy, > and then in late antiquity, Christian theology. That is indeed possible, and of course technology has already given this degree of freedom to many more people. The negative side that may be attributable in part to technology is the fact that people in work are made to work very long and stressful hours simply in order to keep up with regulation. Smart people are often retiring in their 50s because of this. This has particularly affected the teaching profession (Chrissie was a teacher and a lecturer, and hence I get to meet several people from that profession and they all say the same thing.) Computers and technology can easily produce reams of paper forms, and some are beginning to blame the widespread use of computers by lawyers and regulators to make simple things complicated and thereby increase stagnation. In the UK, the nursing home industry in the UK is on the point of collapse because of over-regulation. Most residents are supported by the state who dictate what they will pay, and the state also dictates what regulations apply to the business. The compliance costs are greater than the difference between the physical costs (food, maintenance, medical costs etc) and the income of the business. Because of the inability of one legislator's brain to see the whole picture, these homes are closing and the residents are being sent to hospitals because there is nowhere else that can look after them. Hospitals are becoming clogged up with incurable patients and are becoming less able to perform their other duties properly. One day someone in government will see this, but I doubt that he will start to consider the cost of applying regulations, however laudable their aim. Instead he will try and get taxes increased, which will have other negative effects on the economy, and in particular spending on things such as research and development. It is certainly true that however clever a particular individual is, there is a limit as to how big a picture he can see. Sir Isaac Newton could contain almost the whole of scientific knowledge of his time within his brain. Today it is only possible to specialise. I do wonder whether humanity as a species can only consider concepts of a limited degree of complexity. Maybe artificial intelligence is the answer, but as has been debated here before, handing problems over to a system humans can't match has its risks. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com my homepage links to Longevity Report, Fractal Report, music, Inventors' report, an autobio and various other projects: http://www.geocities.com/longevityrpt http://www.autopsychoice.com - http://www.cryonics-europe.org - http://www.porthtowan.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18424