Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site gatech.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!floyd!whuxlb!pyuxll!eisx!npoiv!npois!hogpc!houxm!ihnp4!we13!otuxa!ll1!sb1!sb6!emory!gatech!spaf From: spaf@gatech.UUCP Newsgroups: net.flame,net.women,net.ai Subject: Sex, religion, words, smoking, farting, and the net Message-ID: <364@gatech.UUCP> Date: Fri, 12-Aug-83 16:52:14 EDT Article-I.D.: gatech.364 Posted: Fri Aug 12 16:52:14 1983 Date-Received: Sat, 13-Aug-83 23:34:33 EDT Organization: Georgia Tech, School of ICS Lines: 47 It just occurred to me today that most of the discussions going on about use of genderless pronouns, homosexuals, heterosexuals, personal habits, religion, and other interesting habits, all have one point in common when we discuss them -- they're *human* activities/conditions. Now stop for a moment and consider the Turing test. When you read these messages from other users on the net, how do you know that they are from people typing at some site rather than some intelligent program? I would contend that a good definition of humanity and intelligence could be formulated by someone looking at the net traffic. The rabid flamers and fanatics who condemn and insult would not meet that definition. We develop new ideas daily in this field. A handicapped person is freed from his or her limitations if they can communicate with the rest of us at 300 or 1200 baud. They can stutter, or be mute, they can be almost completely paralyzed, but their minds and souls are still alive and free and can communicate with the rest of us. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, black, red, white, green, tall, short, old, young, fat, smoking, farting, going 55 mph, attracted to members of the same sex, attracted to sheep, or any possible variation of the human condition -- you are a human intelligence at the other end of my network connection, and I deal with you in a human manner. Once you show your lack of tolerance or your inability to at least try to understand, you show yourself to be less than human. Discrimination really means the ability to differentiate amongst alternatives. Prejudice and bigotry mean that you discriminate based on factors which have no real bearing on the choice at hand. I believe that the definition of "human intelligence" is that it implies the ability to discriminate and the inability to be a bigot. I hope that some of the contributors to the net are simply AI projects; I would hate to believe that there are people with so much hate and intolerance as is sometimes expressed. Comments? -- The soapbox of Gene Spafford CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf.GATech @ UDel-Relay uucp: ...!{sb1,allegra,ut-ngp}!gatech!spaf ...!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!spaf