The Impossibility of Growth

[pchang]

Anyway, who says our social structures are all that great? Maybe we need to experiment with change.

[Lorizael]

No argument from me there. One of my mid-range (crazy) goals is to establish an extraterrestrial colony so that I can play around with new social institutions.

[Sava]

You mean, to hear me specifically say it? Why?

You never struck me as an "out of sight, out of mind" ******, that's all

[Elok]

The problem is that human children are hard-wired to learn by imitating their parents. Which they do very, very well; they take their cues from us for every single aspect of their behavior. Er, except the actual sex part of relationships, that is (unless it's a FUBAR family)--but they get their cues on how to relate to the opposite sex from their parents, for sure. Dunno if that's a complication for kids raised by gay couples. But that's a question for another thread, i.e. a BK troll thread.

Aaaaanyway, whatever social model you care for, if you raise your kids via robot, you'll wind up with people who literally act like robots. You'd need robots who behave exactly like humans, including counterfeiting emotions for the sake of showing kids how to control them. Seems difficult and pointless to me.

[Elok]

You never struck me as an "out of sight, out of mind" ******, that's all

How much do you know about what's going on in Angola, Laos, Tajikstan or Bolivia right now? Basically nothing, right? Which makes sense, because their lives have nothing to do with yours. If you're like most Americans, you have only the vaguest notion of how things run in Canada, and they're right next door, and important. People on Ceti Alpha Six or wherever would be so far away that we could have no dealings with them at all. Maybe a couple of eccentrics might huddle over the latest twenty-year-old news from people they'll never meet.

[Lorizael]

The problem is that human children are hard-wired to learn by imitating their parents. Which they do very, very well; they take their cues from us for every single aspect of their behavior. Er, except the actual sex part of relationships, that is (unless it's a FUBAR family)--but they get their cues on how to relate to the opposite sex from their parents, for sure. Dunno if that's a complication for kids raised by gay couples. But that's a question for another thread, i.e. a BK troll thread.

Aaaaanyway, whatever social model you care for, if you raise your kids via robot, you'll wind up with people who literally act like robots. You'd need robots who behave exactly like humans, including counterfeiting emotions for the sake of showing kids how to control them. Seems difficult and pointless to me.

It sounds very difficult, certainly, but not impossible. As far as the point, well, there are a couple I can imagine. Humanity voluntarily decides to ensure their long-term survival (I admit this is unlikely). Dissidents decide to leave Earth, as you say. Earth (or the solar system) becomes uninhabitable and we are forced to leave. Or, similar to your dissident idea, a crazy idealistic rich guy (like S. R. Hadden from Contact) decides to establish an extrasolar colony for crazy idealistic rich guy reasons.

[AAAAAAAAH!]

I don't think that's an issue unless you have children being raised almost exclusively by robots. If they have a robot and a human they would naturally see the human as more of a role model.

[Elok]

Yeah, but if there's a robots-carrying-eggs-and-sperm scenario, you don't have an initial group of humans to serve as models.

[Lorizael]

I don't think that's an issue unless you have children being raised almost exclusively by robots. If they have a robot and a human they would naturally see the human as more of a role model.

The current evidence indicates this isn't necessarily true. As long as the robot had something resembling a face, the infant might be perceptually incapable of telling the difference between a robot and a human.

[Kidlicious]

The problem is that human children are hard-wired to learn by imitating their parents. Which they do very, very well; they take their cues from us for every single aspect of their behavior. Er, except the actual sex part of relationships, that is (unless it's a FUBAR family)--but they get their cues on how to relate to the opposite sex from their parents, for sure. Dunno if that's a complication for kids raised by gay couples. But that's a question for another thread, i.e. a BK troll thread.

Aaaaanyway, whatever social model you care for, if you raise your kids via robot, you'll wind up with people who literally act like robots. You'd need robots who behave exactly like humans, including counterfeiting emotions for the sake of showing kids how to control them. Seems difficult and pointless to me.

We need to try it on monkeys first.

[Felch]

I HAVE REPLACED YOUR MOTHER!

[The Mad Monk]

Because they're programmed by nerds who have little understanding of social structures

Or, because once we get to the point where robots can provide nurturing and observe social structures, we'd be better off with just robots and no humans. SUPREMACY!

I see what you did there.

[Sava]

This thread took an interesting turn.

[pchang]

There is recent research on how swarms of small simple robots can mimic termite mound building behavior. Once those robots become self-replicating, we pretty much have all we need to build colonies on other planets. Mars should be our first step. Then probably, Europa.

[Sava]

There is recent research on how swarms of small simple robots can mimic termite mound building behavior. Once those robots become self-replicating, we pretty much have all we need to build colonies on other planets. Mars should be our first step. Then probably, Europa.