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Comment by matthewdgreen | Hacker News Reader

>Imagine a future where it becomes easier to commit terrorism because of some technological advancements

Imagine a future where aliens invade, and all of our civil rights have to be suspended in order for society to be re-focused on fighting an existential war against the invaders. I suppose this sci-fi hypothetical could happen and if it did happen then the sacrifice might even be necessary. But it's not happening now, and it's entirely reasonable to classify it as both (1) unlikely, and (2) an incredibly bad outcome we should hope that we never have to face.

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I don’t know if it’s complete fearmongering to imagine a scenario in the future where chemical or biological weapons are easier to manufacture and therefore execute attacks. Hundreds of people died in Europe last year due to terrorist attacks, and compared to where our species will eventually be, many of the technologies used in these attacks are still in their infancy. The world may evolve, but the scriptures that evangelize future jihadists won’t, so the incentive to be a martyr will always exist. I just looked it up and Europe has a very bad track record at stopping attacks—of 54 planned terrorist attacks in 2024 only 19 were averted by intelligence. 35 were carried out successfully. The threat may come from factions other than just jihadists in the future, too. I agree that this is not something we have to worry about now, which is why I stated that I’m hypothesizing in the original comment. But I think it’s a bit less far fetched than a near term alien invasion :-)

The ultimate surveillance state cannot keep you ultimately safe.

When any of that happens I'm happy to have this debate. I will be very sad that we have to live in that world, but I'll take it if the alternative is "we all die." But building a surveillance state today in an environment where violent crime seems to be at historic lows across the first world, that just seems incredibly dumb. Let's not.

This concept already exists. It has for centuries. It's called war.

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