giles@ucf-cs.UUCP (Bruce Giles) (12/01/83)
An interesting point not brought up in Startide Rising is what happens if the Library is put to use in Government? Specifically *AS* the Government. After all, if you are a member of a culture which has relied on a Library during your entire life, your parents' life, your grandparents' life, .... and has always been proved correct in the end, would you trust your future to it? I think most people would. BUT, in this case assume a malfunction which causes it to state something totally improbable, like the second son of parents with blue eyes and brown hair is always a murderer. How could safety checks be built into the system, when almost inevitably the information the controllers use must be supplied by that which is controlled? Especially consider the case when the saftey check is a pure democracy, with an average of junior-college education, but the theory involved is near the doctorial level. Unfortunately, this is not an academic problem. In Orlando, Florida, a power company wants to build a coal-powered electric plant approx. 5 miles south of UCF. There is considerable opposition, from both long-term residents and relative newcomers from the acid-rained North. However, the power company claims that something like 1 BILLION DOLLARS will be saved by using this plant, instead of a gas, oil, or nuclear plant. The case has been in court several times, and the last time the judge decided for the power company citing the future energy use analysis by the power company as the main reason. (I think the intent of the ruling included "Read the company's report" directed at the Sierra Club). With this problem over a power plant, imagine the furor if a Library stated it was in the interests of the public if retirement age was raised to 110 (out of 130 years max, 115 mean), mandatory public service was required from the ages of 18 to 32, etc.... hail eris ave discordia (I finally remembered the other) ----------------------------- Bruce Giles --------------------------------------------- UUCP: decvax!ucf-cs!giles cs-net: giles@ucf ARPA: giles.ucf-cs@Rand-Relay Snail: University of Central Florida Dept of Math, POB 26000 Orlando Fl 32816 ---------------------------------------------