Re: Risk, Reward, and Human Enhancement

From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Fri Jan 04 2008 - 09:03:28 MST


At 06:20 PM 1/2/2008, extropica wrote:

>On 1/2/08, Bryan Bishop <kanzure@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Prediction and intelligence go hand-in-hand, so how is a number (IQ)
> > supposed to be at all intelligent?
>
>Huh? *Within a given context* we certainly can assign a number
>meaningfully representing a point on a distribution representing a
>system's ability to make effective predictions within a complex
>environment.

You have got a dilemma here because once the number is assigned at a
point, it is immutable.

><snip>
>
> > "Never underestimate the ability of a small group of thoughtful,
> > dedicated individuals to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing
> > that ever has." - Margaret Mead
>
>Margaret Mead (of Coming of Age in Samoa) was laughably gullible and
>sadly swayed by her idealism. Not a good reference hereabouts.

Actually Brandon, Mead's quote is a very good reference, regardless
of its author. It may not be the "only thing that ever has," but it
certainly is one of the crucial components of fostering change in the world.

Natasha

<http://www.natasha.cc/>Natasha <http://www.natasha.cc/>Vita-More
PhD Candidate, Planetary Collegium - University of Plymouth - Faculty
of Technology
School of Computing, Communications and Electronics
Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive Arts

If you draw a circle in the sand and study only what's inside the
circle, then that is a closed-system perspective. If you study what
is inside the circle and everything outside the circle, then that is
an open system perspective. - Buckminster Fuller



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