Hacker News Reader

Comment by fizixer | Hacker News Reader

And it sure did ignite flame wars and the topic is not openly pursued anymore in scientific circles, regardless of how objective it might be.

Luckily we don't have to go there. Technology is going to be the great equalizer, and might end up offering you off-the-shelf intelligence upgrade (I'm talking about a time-frame of next 30-80 years).

View on HN

So long as people have to compete in the workplace, then the resulting equilibrium from everybody having an artificially extended intelligence will probably be ( according to Arnold Kling ) like the Vickies and Thetes in Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age".

I've never read that, what is the resulting equilibrium?

Let's just say endings are not Stephenson's strong point.

I have yet to read it myself :)

Dr. Kling is using the book as a template/metaphor more than as a specific proscriptive. But I've seen this myself in the wind as various crises have held forth since 1973 ( when I was first old enough to ask questions about what was going on ).

http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/vickies-and-thetes/

http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/experts-surveyed-on-the-futu...

> the topic is not openly pursued anymore in scientific circles

http://edge.org/response-detail/23838

I'm not sure IQ is really that great in the grand scheme of things. Don't get me wrong it's good, but IQ wouldn't help us much if managed to screw the environment beyond our ability to repair it.

Also that article reeks of alarmism.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com