Nurture

lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
There is an age old debate that can usually be summed up in three words: Nature versus Nurture. This thread is named Nurture because it is impossible to deny that nurture plays a big role.

This thread ties into <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=104895" target="_blank">this one</a>. Go read the first couple posts or so.

It also ties into <a href="http://www.slowchildren-atplay.com/" target="_blank">Slow Children At Play,</a> a website Zergling Minor referred me to a while back. Go there. Read a couple stories or ten. Most of them are fairly short, it won't take all day. It's equal parts tragic and hilarious, so you'll probably get some laughs out of it too.

...

Back? Okay good. Now, consider the background these kids come from: Abusive, dysfunctional homes. As is mentioned a few times, at least in the later stories: They "repeat abusive behaviors that have been perpetrated on them."

<b>This could be any of us.</b>
Most likely, had we come from the kinds of situations these kids came from, we'd be just as, well, ######ed up as they are.
Nurture. Good or bad, it marks us.

It isn't surprising that in much of the scifi where AIs rise up against us, it's usually instigated by us. Matrix had this theme. Mass Effect. Asimov deals with it many times over.

It doesn't take a genius to come to this conclusion. Anyone knows that if you ###### with a kid, they grow up dysfunctional.

We can't allow ourselves to ###### this up.


I don't really knows what there is to discuss here, but I wanted to make this post and I didn't want to derail Align's thread, so post goes here. That being said, the floor is open. Take it who wants.

Comments

  • aNytiMeaNytiMe Join Date: 2008-03-31 Member: 64007Members, Constellation
    First off, the nature vs nurture debate is drenched with naturalistic fallacy. In any area (besides psychology, because psychology is unnatural to begin with) be it agricultural, medical or political, you are bound to encounter a very loud backlash against any controversial new technology. The sole argument for nature is that it has been proven to work for a long while, while human simulacra has been proven by a few hundred years at best. I'm not going to get too far into this because my stupid unnatural laptop with its stupid natural Li+ battery is about to die.

    <!--quoteo(post=1689627:date=Oct 7 2008, 08:39 PM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lolfighter @ Oct 7 2008, 08:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1689627"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Back? Okay good. Now, consider the background these kids come from: Abusive, dysfunctional homes. As is mentioned a few times, at least in the later stories: They "repeat abusive behaviors that have been perpetrated on them."

    <b>This could be any of us.</b>
    Most likely, had we come from the kinds of situations these kids came from, we'd be just as, well, ######ed up as they are.
    Nurture. Good or bad, it marks us.

    It doesn't take a genius to come to this conclusion. Anyone knows that if you ###### with a kid, they grow up dysfunctional.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    It depends on the individual and family more than anything. For every loud mess up, I'm sure you have your number of quiet successes. I was born to a pretty dysfunctional family and I turned out quite alright.
  • locallyunscenelocallyunscene Feeder of Trolls Join Date: 2002-12-25 Member: 11528Members, Constellation
    Okay I just read through that blog rather than actually sleeping.

    Isn't this what every anime is about? Some god/AI/alien sees all the worst parts of humanity and wants to destroy us, then sees the good parts and decides to leave us alone.

    It really all depends how the AI is formed. If it's in a lab, I'd say we have a decent shot of it turning out all right for us. If it's spontaneously out on the interweb or analogous furture network somewhere, god help us all.
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