Newsgroups: comp.ai.alife
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!MathWorks.Com!yeshua.marcam.com!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!msuinfo!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!OzEmail!joi
From: joi@ozemail.com.au (Jonathon Alexander)
Subject: Re: Anti-life
Message-ID: <Cwy1L5.HJs@ozemail.com.au>
Sender: news@ozemail.com.au (System Administrator)
Organization: OzEmail Pty Ltd Sydney Australia
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 13:03:04 GMT
References: <CwHFCK.Mzt@ozemail.com.au> <364701$gl@xmission.xmission.com> <36bqjd$32u@infa.central.susx.ac.uk>
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Lines: 30

Seth Bullock (sethb@cogs.susx.ac.uk) wrote:

: An astro-physisist once pointed out to me that (as well as all the values
: concerning the number of viable solar systems, planets, etc.) we don't know
: (on average) how long technological civilizations last. It may be that the
: evolution of civilization is very common but that it burns out after a
: couple of thousand years. This would ensure that no civilization survived
: long enough to both transmit a message to an extra-terrestrial intelligence
: and recieve the subsequent reply.

That's exactly what I'm worried about.

We are at such a time of incredible growth.

I think we should all maintain awareness of this, and (without being
paranoid) perhaps even attempt formal risk assessment and
management strategies. (preferrably govenment funded!)

I suspect the most dangerous type of problem is the self-reproducing
self-organizing type of thing, either viruses or bacteria
(did you know immunity to an antibiotic can be transmitted naturally
from one type of bacterium to a different type?), or some form of 
self-reproducing machines - 'The Revenge of the Nerds', brought to you by 
Sci.Nanotech.

I think such problems are potentially far more dangerous than the Atom 
Bomb, or the Earth getting hit by comet Bootfixer-Arvi 8 or something 
like that.

Regards, John Alexander
