Re: Thought experiment with robots and monkeys

the race is on! Biotech vs Robotics -- Both with exponential advances.
My bet is still on robotics (and A.I) because the smart machines will
help us build smarter machines.... see kurzweilai.net



wvantwiller wrote:
"jaberwocky" <4m0h1w3uzib7cul@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:1158332551.661732.41680@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

sorry about the sensational header, but its a serious question. A bit
off topic, but I'm impressed with the versatility of those who post
here.

Imagine a future, say 50 years from now, where robots can sufficiently
raise monkeys. (or children if you don't mind the ethics) So, we set
up an experiment to help tease out some nature/nurture variables.


I'd say that by the time you've got all this technology figured out, and by
the time you've done enough precursors to perfect the methodology and
eliminate spurious factors, the biology would have already figured out a
large enough part of the Experiment from other directions that performing
The Experiment would be redundant.

Damn that March of Progress!
.

.