> [Andrew C. Esh]
>
> | Precisely why we can't be concerned with trying to predict what VRML will
> | be used for.
>
> Are you familiar with the story of the man who invented a flying machine
> for an ancient king of China?
Sorry, no.
> I do understand the need to get on with it,
> but a little bandwidth dedicated to *what* can save a lot of *why not* later.
Sure. I'm an engineer, so I tend to want to get 'round to the "doing"
part, as opposed to the "talking about it" part. Sometimes too much
discussions causes "doers" to lose interest and go away to find something
else do work on.
> If you aren't a parent, it is hard to understand why those who are
> object to certain forms of content.
I'm not a parent, but I understand fully the objections some people (not
necessarily parents) have to the content which may be available on the
Internet. My position is that we should enforce labeling rules, and
provide parents with ways to set a browser so it won't retrieve material
which is labeled in certain ways.
What I fail to understand is why some "parents" want to simply pass laws
making it illegal to make certain materials available. That's too
draconian, and interferes with the rights of other who legally have the
right to consume such materials. We have to be careful with things like
censorship. Labeling, on the other hand, would provide the means, for
example, for certain Middle Eastern countries to ban access to things as
simple as swimsuit pictures, and alcohol ads. That is their choice, and
cooperating with them in order to provide them the means to enforce their
laws is fine with me.
> But, today, most of us can understand
> why posting the formulae and procedures for producing nerve gas is not
> a wise choice.
Such information would receive a rather severe label, if it were up to me.
Only people with a "Right to Know" would be able to get it. A good example
of such a person would be a Lieutenant on a Japanese S.W.A.T. team. Given
the security of the Internet, and the availability of other secure
sources for the authorities to reference, I'd tend to ban all such
information from the Internet.
> Yes, the issue is a Pandora's Box with
> no bottom, but some scientific communities have their own ethical
> standards about what they will and will not do with their technologies.
This is interesting. It reminds me of Robert Oppenheimer, and what must
have gone through his mind as he put the final touches on the Atomic
Bomb. Are we approaching that level of importance here? Do we have a
virtual world in front of us that is so powerful it could actually damage
our real world significantly? How will VR cause our societal standards of
ethics and morals to change? Will the real world deteriorate into anarchy
when our younger people grow up without a clear idea between whats real
and what's not, and therefore cannot make moral and ethical judgements
because they have no solid social basis with which to decide?
One thing I have noticed is that it is easy to sit on the outside of an
issue and discuss new "conclusions" into being. What I have later found
is that once one is immersed in the subject of study, a whole new
understanding is gained, and it us usually very different from the
guesswork which is being done on the outside.
Another thing I have taken to heart is that people remain pretty much the
same as they were before exposure. I've seen neophyte Doom players come
among a group of seasoned players, and boast about how many people they
were going to kill in the game. After a few matches, they come back
toughened, educated, and more reasonable. They are certainly less
boastful. Getting into and out of tough situations is easier to do in VR,
and the mind that decides what to do, and what to learn from each
situation is just as reasonable as the one that went in. You just learn
faster.
> This isn't the forum to create that, but you should give it some thought
> and time at one of your conventions. As I note above, better you than
> the governments of our countries.
Yes, yes. Hear, Hear! Large groups of half informed representatives, who
are easily mis-informed by those with a political end in mind, make up a
very poor system within which to make important decisions. I can't
believe some of the weirdness that come out of the government, sometimes.
--- Andrew C. Esh mailto:andrew_esh@cnt.com Computer Network Technology andrewes@mtn.org (finger for PGP key) 6500 Wedgwood Road 612.550.8000 (main) Maple Grove MN 55311 612.550.8229 (direct) <A HREF="http://www.mtn.org/~andrewes">ACE Home Page</A>