If singularity premise is correct, then i think it should must already had happened in our cluster of the universe. Since it hasn't yet, then there are 3 options. 1st: earth and earthlings are special, which is too egocentric notion to be taken seriously. 2nd: we are being observed for entertainment by high conciousness. That could explain a lot, though this removes agency and prevents us from reaching that moment on our own (but maybe the observers are curious to find that out). 3rd: the extinction and annihilation of so-called intelligence once it obliterates all the resources in vicinity. Of course there is option number 4, but ultimately the question, what is the point of that?
This is basically a version of the Fermi Paradox, which, well, has a lot of different answers. A lot. One of my favorites is that humanity actually is one of the early tech civilizations, due to insufficient phosphorus in earlier phases of the universe. But also, there are a lot of ways to have a technological singularity, and many of them have no particular reason to be visible at astronomical distances.
That's also my take. The universe is expected to last for trillions of years and only 13 billions years have passed. Life on earth evolved surprisingly fast after reaching the necessary conditions, some recent research on LUCA estimating less than 300 millions years. I believe there are others out there, but too far yet for communication.
But wanting not to talk to us might be a reason to make themselves hard to detect. Kind of moving to the quieter place when you can’t find anyone interesting at a party.
It's funny to think that all this discussion would not be happening if not for naive idealism embraced by software people fo decades, which enabled sharing everything they made after working hours for free and for everyone. That all it was hijacked by a handful of rich and not very altruistic people to enslave everyone comes as a big surprise. Who would have thought. I guess we arent that smart after all
Its weird having a long time military part time job and a software full time job. Military people tend to be extremely confrontational, and usually not in any way negative. Software people tend to greatly fear confrontation in any form. It really feels like a form of cowardice on repeat. The weirdness is hyper amplified when the manager is the person who is most intimidated and fearful of one-on-ones. That's American social cultural and why so many people take anti-anxiety medications when they shouldn't.
Yes, you should discuss only what is allowed. If you use the technology to dissent against your rulers, then it should be switched off (until you come back to your sense and submit yourself to the mercy of mulas).
The article didnt mention that following the chain the command to perform crimes doesnt prevent from having legal responsibility with Nurnberg process being a very known example.
The history will be not merciful on neither people who initiated this, nor who enabled it or stayed silent while the crimes were performed using there names as a mandate.
It seems a fair number of commanders have been resigning; a question to ask ourselves is: what have I been doing, beyond typing on HN?
> ...the United States is not run by the military, nor should it be. Americans, and their elected representatives, must take this burden away from the armed forces...
I've been doing lots, but I'm not in the USA, thankfully. Everybody is able to do something, something concrete and useful, you just have to figure out what that something is and then go do it. It may cost you though.
>This room knows this is classic risk management. Risk management comes at a price, but that cost of strategic autonomy, of sovereignty, can also be shared. Collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses. Shared standards reduce fragmentations. Complementarities are positive sum.
Sorry, I'm not going to post about that on HN, but it's considerable to the point that it has take up all of my spare time outside of the occasional paid job I still take because the money is too good. That helps finance the other stuff.
Can you post a few ideas for fellow Europeans without disclosing what you’re doing? Are we talking small-scale stuff like "use Linux instead of Microsoft" or bigger, political things? Because as a German, I kinda feel pretty powerless and yet, I do have time and possibly resources that could be spent.
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