On todays show I read the first couple of pages from Bill Joy’s article (click to read full article) Why the future doesn’t need us
Bill Joy, cofounder and Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems, was cochair of the presidential commission on the future of IT research, and is coauthor of The Java Language Specification. His work on the Jini pervasive computing technology was featured inWired 6.08.
One topic covered by Bill Joy is the book The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil. Kruzweil quotes a passage from the Adystropian Scenario written by a well known mathematician:
First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing intelligent machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In that case presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized systems of machines and no human effort will be necessary. Either of two cases might occur. The machines might be permitted to make all of their own decisions without human oversight, or else human control over the machines might be retained.
If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can’t make any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race would be at the mercy of the machines. It might be argued that the human race would never be foolish enough to hand over all the power to the machines. But we are suggesting neither that the human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor that the machines would willfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but to accept all of the machines’ decisions. As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more of their decisions for them, simply because machine-made decisions will bring better results than man-made ones. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won’t be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide.
On the other hand it is possible that human control over the machines may be retained. In that case the average man may have control over certain private machines of his own, such as his car or his personal computer, but control over large systems of machines will be in the hands of a tiny elite – just as it is today, but with two differences. Due to improved techniques the elite will have greater control over the masses; and because human work will no longer be necessary the masses will be superfluous, a useless burden on the system. If the elite is ruthless they may simply decide to exterminate the mass of humanity. If they are humane they may use propaganda or other psychological or biological techniques to reduce the birth rate until the mass of humanity becomes extinct, leaving the world to the elite. Or, if the elite consists of soft-hearted liberals, they may decide to play the role of good shepherds to the rest of the human race. They will see to it that everyone’s physical needs are satisfied, that all children are raised under psychologically hygienic conditions, that everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy, and that anyone who may become dissatisfied undergoes “treatment” to cure his “problem.” Of course, life will be so purposeless that people will have to be biologically or psychologically engineered either to remove their need for the power process or make them “sublimate” their drive for power into some harmless hobby. These engineered human beings may be happy in such a society, but they will most certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to the status of domestic animals.1
Bill Joy:
In the book, you don’t discover until you turn the page that the author of this passage is Theodore Kaczynski – the Unabomber. I am no apologist for Kaczynski. His bombs killed three people during a 17-year terror campaign and wounded many others. One of his bombs gravely injured my friend David Gelernter, one of the most brilliant and visionary computer scientists of our time. Like many of my colleagues, I felt that I could easily have been the Unabomber’s next target.
Kaczynski’s actions were murderous and, in my view, criminally insane. He is clearly a Luddite, but simply saying this does not dismiss his argument; as difficult as it is for me to acknowledge, I saw some merit in the reasoning in this single passage. I felt compelled to confront it.
Kaczynski’s dystopian vision describes unintended consequences, a well-known problem with the design and use of technology, and one that is clearly related to Murphy’s law – “Anything that can go wrong, will.” (Actually, this is Finagle’s law, which in itself shows that Finagle was right.) Our overuse of antibiotics has led to what may be the biggest such problem so far: the emergence of antibiotic-resistant and much more dangerous bacteria. Similar things happened when attempts to eliminate malarial mosquitoes using DDT caused them to acquire DDT resistance; malarial parasites likewise acquired multi-drug-resistant genes.2
Bill Joy brings up some interesting points. His statements and, Kaczynski’s sound a bit like The Matrix.
I had always thought Alex Jones claim were a bit crazy. For example “the Rockefellers want to reduce the world population by 80%. Human labor is like the Inflation Tax. The more people you have competing for a job, the less the labor is worth. This benefits the rich–right? The problem is, according to Bill Joy, human labor won’t be needed much longer.
Can computers integrate with human brains or become artificially intelligent so they eliminate the need for human labor? Bill Joy says they can in the above article.
The BBC reported UK scientists have integrated brain cells from a rat with a computer chip: Rat-brain robot aids memory study.
The UK Telegraph reported Japanese scientists have developed technology where a computer can read a person’s brain waves while they are sleeping and project those brain waves on a screen: Scientists develop software that can map dreams.
Perhaps 80% is an exaggeration. In the second video below Aaron Russo, states Nicholas Rockefeller said they were aiming for a 50% reduction. Aaron Russo said he agreed there are too many people in the world, but he didn’t want to be one of the people who decides who lives and who dies. David Rockefeller also clearly states in the first video population reduction is a goal.
David Rockefeller Speaks About Population Control. – More amazing video clips are a click away
If you read the entire article (Why the future doesn’t need us)Bill Joy explains people may just eliminate ourselves by human error. Here’s an example of what we assume is human error: Vaccine maker’s snafu sparks pandemic scare
Related:
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
Aaron Russo produced Trading Places with Eddie Murphy, and The Rose with Bet Middler. He became friends with Nicholas Rockefeller which inspired him to make the film America Freedom to Fascism. This film makes some interesting claims about the Federal Reserve, which can be investigated on http://inflationtax.blogspot.com.
One of Russo’s stranger claims was Nicholas Rockefeller stated there’s a plan to microchip the general population. Joe Biden backs up Rockefeller’s claim in this statement he made during chief Justice John Roberts’ confirmation hearing.
Joe Biden speaking to John Roberts:
Can a microscopic tag be implanted in a person’s body to track his every movement. There’s actual discussion about that. You will rule on that mark my words before your tenure is over. Can brain scans be used to determine whether a person’s inclined toward criminality or violent behavior? You will rule on that.
Could we be heading in the direction Theodore Kaczynski warned us about? Remember he said:
. . . but control over large systems of machines will be in the hands of a tiny elite – just as it is today, but with two differences. Due to improved techniques the elite will have greater control over the masses; and because human work will no longer be necessary the masses will be superfluous, a useless burden on the system. If the elite is ruthless they may simply decide to exterminate the mass of humanity.
America Freedom to Fascism
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