From: jim@netlink.cts.com (Jim Bowery)
Newsgroups: sci.environment,sci.space,comp.ai.philosophy,sci.psychology,sci.physics
Subject: "Bringing Life to the Stars" synopsis of a new book
Date: 23 Oct 92 01:11:43 GMT
Organization: NetLink Online Communications, San Diego CA

A new book is going to press titled "Bringing Life to the Stars"
by cognitive scientitst, David Duemler.  It is initially being 
sold to the academic community for various curricula, but popular 
sales efforts might be undertaken if sufficient interest exists.  
 
Initial academic orders can be sent to:
 
Helen Hudson
University Press of America
4720 Boston Way
Lanham, MD 20706
 
            Bulk rate (22% discount from retail)
Paperback   $13.65
Clothbound  $33.15
 
I believe individual copies can be ordered at retail.
 
 
A synopsis for "Bringing Life to the Stars" by David Duemler:
 
     One of the worst tragedies of the 20th century occured in Nazi
Germany when millions of people were put to death in concentration
camps.  It is also tragic when a young child is run over by a
truck.  But if we are to state which of these two outcomes is 
worse, it is clear that the death of one child, as horrible as it
may be, pales into insignificance when compared to the suffering 
and death of millions.  Similarly, one would prefer the most 
joyous experiences of one's entire life to an experience which
is merely pleansant.  Simply put, amount matters.  This simple
insight has enormous consequences when we consider the possibility
of bringing life to the stars, thereby increasing the amount of
life countless times.  "Bringing Life to the Stars" is an attempt
to address the question, "Should we bring life to the rest of
the solar system, or, if possible, to the rest of the galaxy?"
     
 
Chapter 1:  An Ethical Foundation
     The first chapter, which provides an ethical foundation for
the rest of the book, begins by discussing three factors
which may limit attempts to think about ethics; 1) amount
matters, but there is a tendency for many people to overlook
amounts, 2) our immediate intuition is faulty, especially when
we are faced with questions for which our background has not
prepared us well, 3) we are likely to be biased toward 
ourselves, our species, and our planet.
     Moving on to an examination of ethics itself, three criteria
are provided which may help us to judge proposed ethical
foundations:
 
     1) In suggesting that X exists and/or has value are we taking
huge inferential leaps beyond the available data?
     2) Is it biologically plausible to suggest that X exists and/or
has a biological function?
     3) If X exists is it of inherent value?
 
     Any proposed foundation which does not pass all three criteria
is not given further consideration.
 
     Proposed foundations for an ethical system include; pleasure and
pain, life itself, natural rights, integrity, diversity, the soul,
and intelligence.  Each of these proposals is examined.  Rights-
based ethical systems fail all three criteria.  The proposal of a 
soul fails criterion 1 as huge inferential leaps are required for
such a system.  All other proposed foundations, with the exception
of pleasure and pain, fail to look at the underlying conditions
which ultimately determine value and thus fail criterion 3.
Pleasure and pain, broadly defined to include all types of suffering
and fulillment, is a foundation which succeeds on all three criteria
and thus serves as the basis for the rest of the book.
     A hedonistic, aggregate, act-utilitarian system is proposed and
defended against common criticisms.  This system is then used to
derive the following two axioms (which are further explained and 
qualified in the book):
 
     1) Life which exists in a fulfilling environment tends to be of
positive value.
     2) In such an environment two lives are on average of twice the
value of one life.
 
     It is noted that if life were to spread throughout either the
solar system or the galaxy the amount of life could increase
countless times, and suggested that if these new worlds are 
fulfilling the amount of value would increase countless times.  
This would make all other problems and possibilities in our world,
except in that they may affect the probability of achieving this
vision, trivial in comparison.
     
Chapter 2:  Creating New Worlds
     The basic conditions for the creation of space habitats are
examined; material resources, energy resources, meteoroids and
cosmic rays, the possibility of isolation and/or confinement,
the creation of ecosystems, and conditions for non-human animals.
     A conclusion is reached that worlds in free space, if they could
be fulfilling, would be preferable to worlds on the surfaces of
moons or planets, as moons and planets are relatively inefficient
(e.g., there are thousands of miles of material beneath your feet
not being directly used, whereas in a space habitat there need only
be a couple meters).  Independent estimates that our solar system 
could hold billions of times as much life as Earth are presented.
In addition to the presence of abundant material resources in 
space it is shown that the Sun as a source of energy can be used 
much more readily when it is not blocked out by Earth's atmosphere
or shadow (i.e., night).
     A second conclusion is that a tremendous diversity of life would
be possible in these worlds.  There could be countless such worlds
in a variety of shapes and sizes and containing a variety of
ecosystems.  Each world would contain a few tens or hundreds of
square miles of land area.  Travel to nearby worlds would be
accomplished in minutes or hours with no concern about potholes or 
a necessity toplow through an atmosphere and with virtually no
use of energy whatever.
     Drawing upon work in environmental psychology, human environmental
preferences are examined with an emphasis on application to design
of worlds in space.  Examples of possible worlds are briefly 
described.
     The limits of present and some conceivable near term launch 
vehicles and "intelligent" machines are briefly examined.
     Finally it is noted that as machine intelligence advances in
worlds without immediate material concerns a "point of freedom"
would be approached.  At such a point machines would perform 
whatever work our descendants do not wish to and thereby would
make available material goods without requiring serious human
effort.  As such a point is approached life would change considerably
and the direction of such change can best be predicted when one
takes into account the limits of consciousness and the limits of
society (i.e., the following two chapters).
     
Chapter 3:  Limits of Consciousness
     The extent to which new worlds would be fulfilling may be limited
by the human capacity for rationality.  Information about 
cognition in non-human animals is presented to provide a foundation
for understanding human cognition.  Moving to humans, it is 
suggested that we could closely approach ideal decisions if we had 
unlimited access to information, if we were in concious control of
our decisions, and if we had a special capacity for logic.  It is
argued however that we fall short of these ideals in a number of 
ways:
 
     1)  Consciousness is multifaceted, with different parts of the 
brain being involved in different aspects of conscious awareness.
There is no single center in the brain which is in control of
our behavior.
     2)  Consciousness plays a circumscribed role in cognition.
Conscious attention is used primarily early in the learning 
process, before things become automatized, and in general when
we are facing unusual situations.  Much of our decision making 
relies on unconsicous processes.
     3)  We have not evolved a special capacity for logic.  An a priori
argument involving natural selection is presented and examples
of human difficulties with reasoning are presented.
     4)  We have not evolved a special capacity for ethical thought.
 
     It is argued that in the future in space we can reduce the 
damage caused by these limitations:
 
     1)  To some extent knowledge is cumulative and thre are reasons
to suspect that the extent of human knowledge will increase 
tremendously in the coming centuries.
     2)  We are capable of learning about our limitations, and will
be more so in the future given the cumulative nature of knowledge.
With such understanding we are capable of behaving in ways that
account for these limitations.  Moreover, as we approach the
"point of freedom," motivations underlying many rationalizations
or "motivated errors," may be reduced or eliminated.
     3)  As life moves beyond the possibility of nuclear destruction
and continues to become more advanced almost any errors which are 
made eventually be corrected.  This will not apply as clearly to
minor day to day errors, but reducing the number and cost of major
errors can make a huge difference in how fulfilling the worlds are.
     
Chapter 4:  The Limits of Society
     "Immdiate return societies" are basically a subgroup of hunters 
and gatherers including the !Kung, the Mbuti, the Hadza and 
others who live (lived) without anything approaching formal legal
or economic systems.  Thus some aspects of their lifestyle may be 
similar to what we would expect in space habitats once the point
of freedom is approached.  These societies share a number of
characteristics including a profound egalitarianism, relatively
free access to resources and freedom to move, a short work week,
secure identity, a stress on cooperation rather than competition,
and physical closeness.
     A brief look at the history of Western Civilization indicates
that modern industrial societies provide a stark contrast
with respect to each of these characteristics.  We wold thus
expect tremendous change on the societal scale as humans move 
beyond Earth.  Modern industrial societies also have advantages
due to relatively advanced technology.  our descendants in space 
would have even more advanced technology and thus a greater 
variety of options.
     It is argued that when life in space approaches the point of
freedom it will indeed share the noted characteristics of
immediate return societies, with the possible exceptions of 
secure identity and physical closeness.  Though our descendants
would be able to choose secure identity and physical closeness, 
may choose otherwise due to a greater availability of options.
The social worlds which develop in space would in some respects
differ from anything found in our history on Earth due to
the relatively advanced state of knowledge and capacity for
rationality.
     Other issues relevant to present and future social systems 
including aggression and reconciliation, altruism and 
reciporcity, and behavioral genetics, are discussed.
     
Chapter 5:  A Cosmic Perspective
     It is shown that a cosmic perspective, a concern about the 
universe as a whole, has been found among those with
environmental concerns since nineteenth century, including
Emerson, Thoreau, and Muir.  It is suggested that it would 
be inconsistent to be concerned about the maintenance of some
ecosystems and not about the creation of others.
     The following common questions and criticisms are addressed:
1) "How could artificial worlds in free space compare with
Yosemite?,"  2) "Maybe it would be nice for some people
but I wouldn't like it.,"  3) "Aren't people who dream
of bringing life to the stars simply being irresponsible?,"
4)  "Why should someone believe that another 'technological
 fix' will solve our problems?,"  5) "Why should people give
up on Earth?  Shouldn't we solve the problems of Earth
first?,"  6) "Why don't we at least wait until it can be
done more efficiently?  Or until the push can be better 
directed?"
     It is suggested that some of these comments and criticisms
are of great value in that they may help to better direct
our efforts.  However, some are self-centered, assuming
that our present day problems, our planet, and near term
considerations in general are what is of most importance.
     
Chapter 6:  The Limits of the Possible
     When we move to the longest term considerations we are 
concerning ourselves with the limits of the possible.  A
brief look is taken at:  possible worlds, possible life
forms, the possibility of traveling to other stars, the
possibility of alien civilizations within the Milky Way,
the possibility that the universe will end, and finally 
the possibility that the universe is a cyclical phenomenon.

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