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 THE THREE CAVES OF DOOM

 http://www.midnight-fire.net/theweeklyreport/doom.html

  Civilization has spawned its final knights�
  Bill Joy, the Sun System�s co-founder and one of the IT-pioneers, is
very worried. About the future, about mankind�s place in it. Some months
ago he wrote an article in the magazine Wired, entitled �Why the future
doesn�t need us.� In the article he is stating three areas of scientific
development in the 21st century, Nanotechnology (smart, microscopical
machines), Genetic Engineering and Robotics (GNR), that single-handedly
or in unison may spell the end of the human species.
  He�s just worried, of course, nothing more. He doesn�t really believe
it will happen, just that it might, if we�re not careful. The good
scientist isn�t really probing very deep in the matter. The article is
more of a discussion of possible consequences, an illumination of
problem areas to be solved, than an attack on technology, civilization
itself.
  This article isn�t so much about Joy really, as much as his �opposite
number� Bill Moravic. Moravic is the true techno guru. He isn�t only
stating that the transformation from human to cyborg or even machine is
inevitable, but also desirable. Humans are obsolete, he says, in the
brave new world�
  Nanotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Robotics (GNR) has one thing
in common, not possible for other, previous human suicidal creations
like the atomic bomb: They can easily replicate themselves in vast
numbers. Beyond a certain point, of no return, they can breed completely
independently of human �aid�. This is in fact, the very foundation of
the three of them, the centre of their �intended� �benefits�, that they
can create completely independent self-sufficient systems. It�s one step
further, perhaps the final step in our tailspin suicidal run. One thing
is what individuals can do with the technology. Another far more grave
aspect, is what society itself can do with it. It doesn�t really have to
spiral out of control, as such. As all technology it will immerse itself
into the world, and it will conquer it, but on a scale never before
seen. There are a lot of possible, probable scenarios, where the
inventions completely overtake their inventors.
  We have the doomsday, terminator scenario, of course, just as probable
as the others, where a conscious, self-aware mechanical entity or a host
of entities see humanity as their enemies and decides to exterminate
them.
  But this isn�t really the most likely scenario. The most likely is, in
short, what happens today, that humanity is slowly, inevitably
undermining its own footing, making itself obsolete. Every possible
nightmare, imagined by science-fiction writers, is finally possible.
  I, myself, find more and more common characteristics with Holocaust,
the German genocide of Jews during World War 2, and current human
society. It was a slow process really. First the Jews were terrorized,
then collected, then skipped on trains, gathered in camps, made to build
the camps, digging trenches, later to be revealed to be graves, to be
instrumental in their own extermination. The difference is, of course,
that no one is doing it to us. There�s no outside force engineering our
genocide. We are doing it� to ourselves.
  Moravic is �correct�.

  Moravic and people like him, (who among other things, want to freeze
their own brain upon death), aren�t really the world�s decision-makers.
They�re just enjoying excellent working conditions in this modern world
of ours. Like Doctor Mengele, the infamous death-camp scientist, they�re
merely taking advantage of the situation as it presents itself and is
able and willing to excel in it. In many ways, they�re the ultimate
sycophants. In a world of followers, they�re an expression of the
sheep-mentality so prevalent among the present day humanity.
  There aren�t really any decision-makers�

  There is one knight in each of the 3 Caves of Doom, waiting to save
us, save us from Nature, save us from everything from the common cold to
a bleeding finger. Three more knights in a long row, but these three may
very likely be the ultimate culprits. Yes, the noble knights are always
at hand� Our only hope is that the dragons can slay them, slay them all,
before it�s too late.
  Throughout the �rise� of civilization, bad as it has been, there have
always existed possibilities for saying �no�, (even if the dynamics of
such an act more are suggesting a return to the wilderness through a
temporary doomsday scenario) and return our birthright of the Wild to
ourselves. That possibility, and even the possibility of Life at all, is
approaching a point of No Return.
  The Final Surrender, Submission (to The Machine) is at hand. As it
stands humanity has set itself up nicely, �to go silently into the
night�. Go, not with a cry, but with a whimper.

 Amos

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  "The world is a comedy to those who think,
 and a tragedy to those who feel".
    Horace Walpole