Sorry I'm late... is no-one curious given the age of the universe why the 3 races are so close technologically?

Sorry I'm late in replying to this, but I'd guess the answer is that this is "the past's future." He would not have been able to tell this story with one species being that advanced, so he postulated a universe in which such a species doesn't exist (or at least isn't nearby).

Your in-universe explanations work as well, of course.

Perhaps the fact that it's the "traditional and irrational" ending is the reason Eliezer went with it as the "real" one. (Note that he didn't actually label them as "good" and "bad" endings.)

I assumed the same, based on the definition of "god" as "supernatural" and the definition of "supernatural" as "involving ontologically basic mental entities."

(Oh, and for anyone who hasn't read the relevant post, the survey is quoting this.)

I could be interpreting it entirely wrong, but I'd guess this is the list Cochran had in mind:

•

This reminds me of Lojban, in which the constructs meaning "good" and "bad" encourage you to specify a metric. It is still possible to say that something is "worse" without providing any detail, but I suspect most Lojban speakers would remember to provide detail if there was a chance of confusion.

Give the furries, vampire-lovers and other assorted xenophiles a few generations to chase their dreams, and you're going to start seeing groups with distinctly non-human psychology.

WHY HAVEN'T I READ THIS STORY?

Because you haven't had time to read all the Orion's Arm stories, probably. (Details)

2) Honestly, I would have been happy with the aliens' deal (even before it was implemented), and I think there is a ~60% chance that Elizier agrees.

I'm of the opinion that pain is a bad thing, except insofar as it prevents you from damaging yourself. People argue that pain is necessary to provide contrast to happiness, and that pleasure wouldn't be meaningful without pain, but I would say that boredom and slight discomfort provide more than enough contrast.

However, this future society disagrees. The idea that "pain is important" is ingrained in these people's minds, in much the same way that "rape is bad" is ingrained in ours. I think one of the main points Elizier is trying to make is that we would disagree with future humans almost as much as we would disagree with the baby-eaters or superhappies.

(Edit 1.5 years later: I was exaggerating in that second paragraph. I suspect I was trying too hard to sound insightful. The claims may or may not have merit, but I would no longer word them as forcefully.)

If you're trying to present any kind of information at all, you should figure out what is important about it and what presentation will make it clear.

Unfortunately, the quote above isn't at all clear, even in context. I suspect this is because Jacques Bertin isn't as good at expressing himself in English as in French, but even so I'm unable to understand the sample data he presents or how it relates to the point he was trying to make.

I agree with your interpretation of the song, and to back it up, here's the chorus of "The Farthest Star" (another song by the same band).

We possess the power, if this should start to fall apart, To mend divides, to change the world, to reach the farthest star. If we should stay silent, if fear should win our hearts, Our light will have long diminished before it reaches the farthest star.

This time, the message is pretty clear: we should aspire to overcome both our differences and our limitations, to avoid extinction and to expand throughout the universe. I suppose it doesn't say anything about immortality, but otherwise it seems to match transhumanist philosophy.