1) If I physically destroy every other intelligent thing, what is going to threaten me?
Given the size of the universe, how can you possibly destroy every other intelligent thing (and be sure that no others ever successfully arise without you crushing them too)?
Plus, it seems like an awfully lonely universe. I don't want to live there even if I could somehow do it.
2) Given 1), if something does come along, what is going to be a standard of friendliness? Can I just say "I'm friendly. Honest." and be done with it, avoiding annihilation? History is rewritten by victors.
These are good points. The point to my thesis is exactly what the standard of Friendliness is. It's just taking me a while to get there because there's *A LOT* of groundwork first (which is what we're currently hashing over).
If you're smart enough to say "I'm friendly. Honest." and smart enough to successfully hide the evidence from whatever comes along, then you will avoid annihilation (for a while, at least). The question is -- "Are you truly sure enough that you aren't being watched at this very moment that you believe that avoiding the *VERY* minor burden of Friendliness is worth courting annihilation?"
Also, while history is indeed rewritten by the victors, but subsequent generations frequently do dig further and successfully unearth the truth. Do you really want to live in perpetual fear that maybe you didn't successfully hide all of the evidence? It seems to me to be a pretty high cost for unjustifiably crushing-them-all.
Also, if you crush them all, you can't have them later for allies, friends, and co-workers. It just doesn't seem like a bright move unless you truly can't avoid it.
------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=95818715-a78a9b Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
