“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.”
H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy
“The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity—a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop.”
Isaac Asimov, Foundation
Isaac Asimov…one of my all time favorites, published, in the 40’s, a short story titled ‘The Last Question’. This question has haunted me since I read the story as a teenager. He and Robert Heinlein often posed questions in their science fiction works that still remain unanswered. In response to Mencken I submit that the dangerous man is not the thinking man, but the one who thinks and develops AI to rule the Universe, and assures mankind that AI can solve its problems and miscues.
It is a short read.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoueGSWXluVVUtHYnRJVEg4YnM/edit
I wonder if this will cause a TBP shit storm?
I started reading Asimov in elementary school, he was quite influential on my development as I can see in retrospect.
He’s the reason I’ve never developed any fear or apprehension of robots, the Three Laws of Robotics make them perfectly safe.