bsa@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery) (07/27/85)
Expires: Quoted from <2763@topaz.ARPA> ["What an advanced race would come far to get...."], by jcr@mitre-bedford... +--------------- | In questioning the assertion about slavery, I wrote something like: | | Would slaves have any value at all to an advanced race? | At some point, machine labor becomes cheaper & more | efficient than slave labor, & once a race has passed | this point, what use would they have for slaves? Of | course one might argue that this applies only to physical | labor, & perhaps they'd have use for intelligent slaves | in other sorts of labor (nightmare scenario: aliens | kidnap the entire human race & make accountants of | us all!). | | I have to stand by this too; I've yet to see a convincing line of reasoning | to the contrary. (Please remember that I'm not really discussing the TV | series "V" here, but rather the more general assertions I delineated above.) +--------------- What is there to gain from slavery? The same thing HUMAN slave-owners get out of it. That feeling of owning a life, the biggest ego-boost possible out- side a thionite dream. And believe me, humans feel it; the heady feeling of power attracts many people. Despite the well-known fact that slaves are uneconomic for the reasons you stated. +--------------- | An interesting possibility occurs to me. Imagine a race whose evolution has | been similar to that of Vulcans, from an emotional & violent past to a very | cold & rational present. But this race has gone even further; they've lost | emotion to the extent that they are now totally unable to create art. How- | ever, they can still appreciate it, and works of art from their distant past | are highly treasured. What would happen if such a race discovered humanity | as we currently are? Might they take us as slaves, forcing us to create | artworks for them? Would such a scheme work? Would the kidnapped humans | create great art? Perhaps so, if suffering contributes to great art. Or | would they turn out trash? Would the aliens know the difference? Has anyone | read anything like this? +--------------- I read one, but I remember neither title nor author. --bsa -- Brandon Allbery, Unix Consultant -- 6504 Chestnut Road, Independence, OH 44131 decvax!cwruecmp!ncoast!bsa; ncoast!bsa@case.csnet; +1 216 524 1416; 74106,1032 ========================> Trekkies have Warped minds. <=======================