virus: We got a Malthusian crisis here

Tyson Vaughan (tvaughan@ux.accesscom.net)
Wed, 25 Oct 1995 18:58:13 +0000


Deron Stewart wrote:

> ...two worlds: One, with 3 billion humans pursuing
>technology, science, and the arts along with vast unspoiled wilderness and
>endless natural beauty; The other with 15 billion people in which a small
>fraction are advancing human knowledge and many are living in misery, and
>nature has been obliterated.
>
>Few of us would choose the second path but collectively that is exactly
>what's happening. The root of the explanation for this lies in Game Theory,
>with each person maximizing their local "pleasure" at the expense of the
>global maximum. I would hope that a rational philosophy would attempt to
>transcend this kind of limitation.

I could not agree more. I think that this is one of the driving forces
behind both Extropianism and Virus, whether consciously or not. We are at
a point in history where a new kind of thinking is going to be required to
ensure our survival on this planet and beyond. Perhaps THAT is a motivation
for bringing Virus to the masses.

-Tyson