X-Message-Number: 18466
From: 
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 10:43:08 EST
Subject: rats 

Speculating on organic brains enhanced by computers, Yvan Bozzonetti writes 
in part:

>The biological part of the ?brain? has 
>not to be encased in a human specimen. Up to 5 000 species could have the 
>brain power to run the technological civilization. The fastest reproducing 
>would soon overtake all bigger, slower ones.

>Who will be the first on Mars? Who will return to the Moon? Who will 
>be here when we get out of cryonics state?  In each case, a man seems a bad 
>answer.

I don't think that follows. Rats or whatever will become superhuman only if 
we make them so, and even then would take over in the manner he suggests only 
if we allow it. Furthermore, enhanced individuals, whatever the species 
substrate, will probably all be considered "people" in the same sense; 
rationality will probably rule, and there will be no special incentive for 
species chauvinism. Further, more rats than people doesn't imply more 
rat/computers than human/computers.

In most respects it doesn't really matter if the strictly computing functions 
are separate from the organic brain or physically linked. A human with a 
self-improving computer at his command (or a zillion of them), linked just 
enough to maintain control, would be more than a match for any swarm of rats, 
given his head start.       

However, Mr. Bozzonetti has put forward an interesting idea, which hadn't 
occurred to me.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org

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