Why are there so many humans?
sapiens.org
Why are there so many humans?
1–10 of 77 posts
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#2[dead]
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#3Arghh it's that site with the "Yes I love humans" / "No I'm not human" popup obscuring the screen after a few seconds again. It's kind of cute, but my natural response to that is back button. I don't know what it's trying to say. Can't be just me it puts off like that. What a shame, it seemed like a fascinating article.
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#4What's not to love about Bender Bending Rodriguez?
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#5I believe all genetically possible humans should be brought into existence.
If we imagine the set of all genetic combinations that result in something that could be conceivably thought of as “human,” only an infinitesimal fraction of humans will ever be born through traditional sexual recombination. To be born is to win a lottery with astronomically long odds.
As biotechnology advances, we will be able to conceive and grow humans using completely artificial means (eg artificial wombs). Do we, the relatively tiny population of humans who have had the luck to be born, have a duty to the much more vast population of “genetically possible humans” to bring them into existence?
I think we do if we ever reach a post-scarcity society.
Three obvious problems: genetic mutations that would make a life unbearable, the phenomenon of twins, and the astronomical number of resulting humans.
I’m sure we’ll be able to identify extremely negative mutations and either fix them or abandon those genomes. The issue of twins means we’re not generating every possible human mind, but creating a reasonable sampling of that space (we observe twins have very similar life outcomes). To the last problem, I have no solution, I’m just assuming the Universe is spatially infinite with an even distribution of matter and energy.
BTW, it might be simpler to just simulate these humans, but I’m still extremely uncertain as to what extent a human in a computer = a human in meat-space.
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#6Arghh it's that site with the "Yes I love humans" / "No I'm not human" popup obscuring the screen after a few seconds again. It's kind of cute, but my natural response to that is back button. I don't know what it's trying to say. Can't be just me it puts off like that. What a shame, it seemed like a fascinating article.
...but my natural response to that is back button.
Lead web dev: "We need to hijack the back button."
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#7I believe all genetically possible humans should be brought into existence. If we imagine the set of all genetic combinations that result in something that could be conceivably thought of as “human,” only an infinitesimal fraction of humans will ever be born through traditional sexual recombination. To be born is to win a lottery with astronomically long odds. As biotechnology advances, we will be able to conceive an…
Don't believe that makes sense. Being human is defined by existing humans. Change the genes too much, it non-human. Not sure how to draw a line.
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#8I believe all genetically possible humans should be brought into existence. If we imagine the set of all genetic combinations that result in something that could be conceivably thought of as “human,” only an infinitesimal fraction of humans will ever be born through traditional sexual recombination. To be born is to win a lottery with astronomically long odds. As biotechnology advances, we will be able to conceive an…
It’s a very fascinating idea for sure. But why? Is is because you want to give every possible combination a chance to prove itself, or are you hoping for extremely high performing individuals that would be impossible to find otherwise?
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#9Arghh it's that site with the "Yes I love humans" / "No I'm not human" popup obscuring the screen after a few seconds again. It's kind of cute, but my natural response to that is back button. I don't know what it's trying to say. Can't be just me it puts off like that. What a shame, it seemed like a fascinating article.
What was up with that confirm shaming? Weirdest prompt ever.
Re: Why are there so many humans?
#10Arghh it's that site with the "Yes I love humans" / "No I'm not human" popup obscuring the screen after a few seconds again. It's kind of cute, but my natural response to that is back button. I don't know what it's trying to say. Can't be just me it puts off like that. What a shame, it seemed like a fascinating article.
...but my natural response to that is back button. Lead web dev: "We need to hijack the back button."
Hahaha so funny, thanks for that. Yeah, I guess that's how that 'evolved'.