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Re: Apple II: Second Best Tech Product of All Time!
Charlie Springer wrote:
On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:34:50 -0700, Michael J. Mahon wrote
(in article <fP-dnds-Q5ry47_bnZ2dnUVZ_oCmnZ2d@comcast.com>):
(BTW, humans are a *terrible* source of randomness--they are much
too predictable! And even "crafty" individuals make very biased
random number generators.)
I'm relying on blunders. The really stupid errors by terrible commanders
could be used to generate furballs in the problem space. The one who knows
which elements are likely to make the mistakes is (maybe) in the best
position to take advantage.
I understand--but surely a clever opponent will grasp this point.
After all, a vital characteristic of intelligence is adaptability.
More interesting to me is the debate I used to have with Saganites about the
nature of "advanced species." Their standard assumption is that smarter
equals nicer. I countered that in the special case where the greater
intelligence has been designed, their case might be true. In the case where
the intelligence is the result of natural selection, they are very likely to
be diligent, aggressive, and eliminate even the slightest threat with great
vigor. They will have an ethic based on survival, much like life boat ethics.
I agree that it could go either way.
But I have long noticed the "big dog" scenario: most dogs, as they grow
big, become more gentle. It's as if they become aware that they could
squash small animals with a careless move, and begin to be more careful.
Only a very immature intelligence gets its kicks from destroying things
too small to fight back that pose no threat. The more mature ones come
to regard such species as either irrelevant or as pets. ;-)
Who knows...
But I agree with the premise of the Fermi/Von Neuman conjecture and don't
think there are any star traveling folks in this galaxy and that there is no
way to go faster than the speed of light, else they would be all over the
place.
Or it may be that it is just very costly to travel with their current
knowledge base, as it is for us. They could all have "cabin fever". ;-)
Or they could have had their heyday a billion years ago, or will a
billion years hence. Drake's equation covers the ground pretty well.
-michael
NadaNet networking for Apple II computers!
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."