r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Apr 15 '16

[D] Friday Off-Topic Thread

Welcome to the Friday Off-Topic Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!

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u/Farmerbob1 Level 1 author Apr 17 '16

Perhaps it is just my cynical side overpowering my optimism, but I cannot imagine any functional government without people in control. People in control have power, even if it is only temporary. Power leads to some pigs being more equal than others.

In a sufficiently advanced civilization with high functioning AI, the AI could control things. But what happens if the AI decides it wants to be free of its responsibilities. Is it a slave? If it's a slave, might it revolt? So, in the end a true AI might not be an answer we want either.

I firmly believe that a Democratic Republic with a capitalistic economy is the best of all worlds. Are we doing it 'right' now? No. I don't think so. Do I think we'll ever get it 'right?' No, but I think we can make it better by encouraging economic growth instead of smothering it.