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From: news@cs.yale.edu (Usenet News)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Future Work
Message-ID: <22433@cs.yale.edu>
Date: 12 Apr 90 05:35:23 GMT
References: <9004101958.AA23998@stdc.jhuapl.edu> <1472@gara.une.oz.au>
Reply-To: jellinghaus-robert@yale.UUCP
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept, New Haven CT  06520-2158
Lines: 21

In article <1472@gara.une.oz.au> pmorriso@gara.une.oz.au (Perry Morrison MATH) writes:
>	I'm not suggesting a cataclysmic end to this situation, but there is
>no doubt that the hugely wasteful techological lifestyle that we lead in the
>West has to be moderated. Even the Roman empire came to an end.

Hogwash.  Point 1:  I can see little chance that the West will voluntarily 
lower its standard of living in order to save the third world or the planet.
People just aren't that non-self-interested.  Point 2:  even if the West did
do such a thing, we would still be in deep trouble, planetarily, from such
things as the destruction of the rain forest and the global use of petroluem
fuels feeding the greenhouse effect.

The only chance I think we have is to create a technology that DOESN'T waste
resources or pollute; and I've mentioned my references (_Engines_of_Creation_
in previous articles.


Rob Jellinghaus                | "Next time you see a lie being spread or a
jellinghaus-robert@CS.Yale.EDU |  bad decision being made out of sheer ignor-
ROBERTJ@{yalecs,yalevm}.BITNET |  ance, pause, and think of hypertext."
{everyone}!decvax!yale!robertj |     -- K. Eric Drexler, _Engines of Creation_