Hi all,
Greg Hogan <[email protected]> writes:
On Sat, Apr 4, 2026 at 10:55 AM Hugo Buddelmeijer via
<[email protected]> wrote:
- A Short History of Progress, by Ronald Wright. Wright argues
that
this is essentially what humans do since the beginning: invent
technology, then use that to cause enormous problems, to be
solved with
new technology. So it is good that there are also naysayers;
we should
cherish those voices, because maybe we can break this cycle.
Except this simply is not true. We are markedly better off any
previous generation! Technology has reduced poverty to a
consequence
of mental illness, drugs, or authoritarianism.
Today's enormous problems, global warming and energy security,
are a
direct consequence of listening to the naysayers! Perhaps we
should
listen to the naysayer naysayers.
The original request was to 'please provide more details on
"tremendous human suffering" because I know too little about
that' and
get book recommendations. It should be possible to identify the
"tremendous human suffering" (past, present, and future!),
"infringing
intellectual property", and where "unprofitable technology is
putting
national economies at risk".
I have no secret information and owe you exactly nothing. You are
welcome to research the multitude of well-documented harms done by
LLMs yourself. Your hostile attitude doesn’t convey openness to
good-faith discussion, so I won’t waste my time and blood pressure
in the attempt.
Guix needs more automation to be sustainable. A visceral
minority
opposition to AI may kill the project.
It won’t, but I’d rather see Guix die a hero than live a villain.
-- Ian
