Re: The pace of change

From: Jeremy Bradley (jeremyb@nor.com.au)
Date: Tue 19 Nov 2002 - 22:22:04 GMT

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    At 08:33 AM 19/11/02 -0800, you wrote:

    Grant:
    >An article I read about a year ago by a businessman who was selling to the
    >global economy said that the greatest problem he had today was the pace of
    >change. The world is changing so quickly that he couldn't use methods he
    >learned at Harvard Business School to solve his business problems. They
    >were obsolete before he graduated.
    >
    SNIP.............

    Sorry to snip such an excellent and insightful piece, and I am keeping this one Grant as it covers most of the main issues at play in the global conflict today. The only criticism that I have is that you have brought them ALL up in the one post. There is just one thing that I would add. Since it would take another two and a half planets worth of resources, and one hell of a lot of pollution control, to raise the quality of life of all on the planet to that of the average Westerner, many people see 'development' as a con. They see it as an elaborate con that has been perpetrated by the wealthy economic interests to enslave them. Personally I feel like we are strapped to a technological bobsled hurtling down a slope towards the unknown. Maybe I am a 'fraidy cat', or maybe I am judiciously cautious. On the subject of computers becoming 'more intelligent' than us, I think that that they may become more logical, or more reasoning, but not more intelligent. My hypothetical question is, if a super-computer logically and reasonably arrived at the decision that humanity was on an unsustainable path and that we must modify the 'pace of change', or even go back to a simpler lifestyle, like Gandhi suggested, would our intelligence take any notice of it, or would we declare it faulty and try to build another more superer-computer which would agree with what we wanted to hear? I reckon that it would be the latter option. Cheers Jeremy

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