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Article 5622 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: petersow@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com (Wayne Peterson)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: AI failures
Message-ID: <1992May13.164932.9954@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com>
Date: 13 May 92 16:49:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: saifr00.1992May13.164932.9954
References: <unaphINNpv8@early-bird.think.com> <1992May12.162908.6586@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com> <1992May13.044532.3389@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Organization: Honeywell Air Transport Systems Division
Lines: 78

Wayne Peterson
>>Relativism reduces ethics to might makes right.  If I have the power, I
>>can do whatever I want, for you have no ethical leg to stand on.

Anton Zirnum:
>But you see, if the class wanted to they could have
>killed him, dumped his body - and no one would be
>the wiser as to what grade they got. So you see, he
>did not have the power! (And he probably backed out
>after teaching them a "lesson")

Actually I suspect that most students in the class believed it
was wrong to kill him, but not wrong to complain, for they
expressing there own opinion, and "one opinion is as good as
another."  He of course never recorded the grades, but I am
not sure his point was driven home.

>	So they all compromised that they will
>be fair and treat the other how they expect to
>be treated.

This is my point, we need to treat each other as we want to be
treated.

>	As is often said, "Power corrupts, and
>absolute power corrupts absolutely!" So true!

I couldnt agree more

>Fortunatly for all of us there is no one that
>has absolute power.

Or we would all be dead or slaves.

> Remember the old game of
>Paper/Rock/Scissors, while you may have the 
>upper hand in life at the moment, you may not
>have it for long.

We all need to remember that.  Some however play the
money, power, politics game, somehow thinking they are
making the rules.  When I was a soldier I realized the
general had no power. I could turn around and blow him
away.  Power is an illusion

> That is why we play the game
>as we do, and we pretend that some absolute
>morality compells us to behave as we do.

I think you are forgetting conscience, compassion, good
will, and common sense.  I think Plato was right when
he said that we are inherently good, evil is a result
of our own ignorance.
> If
>there is one sure thing in life, it's that
>there is NO sure thing!

Death seems to be a sure thing.

> And any intelligent
>being will think ahead to the possibilities
>and make the best compromise.


What do we compromise?  What do we give up? For what ends?
Should we think ahead to death?

*****************************************************************
*   AZ    -- zirdum@ccu.umanitoba.ca                            *
*     " The first hundred years are the hardest! " - W. Mizner  *
*****************************************************************

I believe that.

Regards,
Wayne Peterson

"Being ground by the wheels of time and space."


