Re: PHYSICS/SPACE: Legitimate time traval proposal etc.

From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Sat May 19 2001 - 22:26:54 MDT


Psy-Kosh wrote:
>
> A question for Eliezer: From what I understand, as a general rule you
> are against tech suppression, yet you sxaid that you'd have prefered that
> this guy have not published this idea, instead done a nsa black project or
> something. I was wondering why time travel, as opposed to other potentially
> dangerous technologies, would be an exception to your rule.

Would I prefer the bad guys getting it later, simply because it is later,
to the good guys getting it first but early? Is it more important who
gets the technology first, or does the problem simply become worse and
worse the more people have it?

There's a strong reason for wanting time travel to be developed by the
good guys, but I'd much rather it weren't developed at all until
post-Singularity. I think. Anyway, I'd sooner that this were a single
black military project run by a liberal democracy than something being
toyed with by labs worldwide, and sooner still that it not be developed at
all until post-Singularity.

Taking your idea to the NSA isn't unethical tech suppression. Asking the
NSA to assassinate everyone else who has the idea is unethical tech
suppression.

> How to change the e-addy of mine that the list sends to?

Unsubscribe and resubscribe.

-- -- -- -- --
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://intelligence.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence



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