Where's the Conspiracy?

"Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards."
-Aldous Huxley

"All our lauded technological progress -- our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal."
-Albert Einstein

Somehow I wouldn't keep mankind in general as intelligent specie.

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I was searching something this am and tripped over an astounding site that kept me occupied for hours. PLEASE - check it out and read as much as you can...

abuddhas memes

www.drmenlo.com...

"How did we get to this place? Listening intently to the sizzle, so immersed in all the media-directed attention that the steak, dripping it's vitality on the searing griddle of productivity, will soon be burnt. As most of us are already - burnt-out that is, with biological, human needs for care and love and acknowledged interdependence pegged squarely against the need for basic provision; and, for the few, stuff.

The idea haunts me. If all Gaian humans consumed like us in the so-called developed places, we would need a few more planetships. So the plan is to strengthen the "defense" capability of those who are "in" (read Euro-AmeriCanadian Australs) while maintaining a vast labor pool by means of directed political and social instability; easily quelled by the massive allied forces if an insurrection gets too rambunctious. This makes clear the role of our Intelligence networks, and reveals in retrospect the obvious.

Surely we must see this; if we can't share then we must exclude. Short of an energy and materials revolution, such as harnessing fusion and nanoreplication, this consumptive fantasy will soon resolve itself in a way the Nazis would likely have approved.

Is strong AI, nanobots, and limitless energy the answer? Maybe, but I would qualify my partial optimism by observing our own strong anti-intelligence and suspect ethicality. Perhaps the first Extropian colonist voyageurs will decide biology must defer in favor of energy."




Enjoy!

The first thing that has to go is Usuary. All interest is based on the idea of limitless continued growth, which is a fools paradise. We must get smarter cleaner and less numerous if where to have a chance in the future...

So we go get another petri-dish?

To the Moon and Mars!

Well Gazrock, assuming that it was technically feasible, that we had the resources to spare and that limitations like differences in gravity (as well as other biological limitations resulting from evolving as an integral part of this bioshpere) could be overcome, would we deserve a second chance after what we've done to our (IMO) one and only viable home?
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Darn, this is a good post.

I keep losing it, and finding it again, but never having the time to do it justice. Given the latest warnings about the bird flu pandemic, I think a bump is warranted.

It's only so long we can keep going without a conservative attitude, Nature will give us a a big slap and wake us up if we don't get serious about it. Sometimes, I wish that it would happe, at least we'll realize it's not Hollywood stuff.

Great OP-ED piece Gools. I personally don't agree with all your conclusions, but your arguments are persuasive.

ATS is full of gems like this one.

Found, lost, then found again.

I love this thread.

Cross-referencing with another relevant discussion: The Early Signs of Public Unrest and Social Chaos?

Here we are over three years after my initial post. Looking back at all that has developed (as witnessed in myriad threads and posts on this website) I believe that my original premise is more true than ever.
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