I'm not sure I have the posting conventions down
properly (I seem to lack the proper referents), but
I really must inquire about the following snippet in
which Martin Taylor seems to be responding to
something posted by Remi Cote and commented
upon by Bruce Gregory. (If I don't have that sequence
or the protocol right, I suspect it's unimportant.)
<snip>
[Martin Taylor 960416 10:30]
Bruce Gregory 960415.1405
The Principle (analogous to The Test) -- Human beings are
autonomous systems acting to achieve their own goals -- is
extraordinarily powerful. ...
<snip>
There then ensues a lengthy commentary about the seemingly
profound nature of "the principle." Frankly, I am quite surprised.
I would have taken "the principle" as a given. Is there some other
view of human beings with which I am unfamiliar and that is more
pervasive than the one cited above? I know lots and lots of people
who wish human beings weren't "autonomous systems," but I know
no one who believes they are anything but that.
Regards,
Fred Nickols
nickols@aol.com