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I wouldn't assume that Hitchen's writings are a complete record of his views. I remember him being a regular (and fiery!) TV guest during this period, often arguing in defense of military intervention on the basis that radical Islam is an evil worth fighting against. It's possible that he argued in favor of waterboarding in one of these many appearances.

Doing nothing might be preferable to intervening in that case. But I'm not sure if the advanced civilization in Bostrom's scenario is intervening or merely opining. I would hope the latter.

I noticed this same editing style in a children's show about 20 years ago (when I last watched TV regularly). Every second there was a new cut -- the camera never stayed focused on any one subject for long. It was highly distracting to me, such that I couldn't even watch without feeling ill, and yet this was a highly popular and award-winning television show. I had to wonder at the time: What is this doing to children's developing brains?

Answer by Waldvogel10

Once you reach a certain age, you may find that these little tasks and chores become therapeutic. They offer a chance to step away from your desk and do something with your body. This isn't really a big deal in your teens and 20s, when your body can take all sorts of punishment and keep going, but once you pass the 30 mark, you may find that a little light exercise and movement feels really good if you've been sitting at a desk or staring at a screen all day.

Also, studies have shown that exercise actually improves mental acuity. I don't remember the exact details, but I recall one study that split students into two groups: one that studied for about 1 hour, and one that studied for about 45 minutes and exercised for 15. The second group (the one that studied less and exercised more) actually performed better on academic and memory tests.

So my advice is: don't think of chores as wasted time, but as opportunities to recharge your mind and body and actually accelerate your mental acuity. You might not think of folding laundry as exercise, but compared to sitting at a desk, it is.

Great new feature. Thank you! I will probably make use of this over the next few weeks.

But I did get a laugh out of "Specialist terminology, acronyms and idioms are handled gracefully" immediately being followed by a mispronunciation of "latex."

Why would an advanced entity, capable of traveling between stars, separate their body from their spacecraft?

It could be an advanced entity that evolved here on Earth and isn't capable of traveling between stars, perhaps a member of an ancient civilization that predates humanity. 

Remember, "alien" and "extraterrestrial" are not necessarily synonymous.

Regarding the USAF official who says he misspoke about a killer drone AI, I think we have two plausible scenarios: 

  1. A USAF official misspoke, then corrected himself
  2. A USAF official told the truth, then walked back his comments, claiming he misspoke

Right now, everyone seems to assume that 1 is true, but why? Even if 2 is unlikely, isn't discounting it entirely similar to uncritically accepting the original story?

You asked why this sort of violence is taboo, not whether we should break that taboo or not. I'm merely answering your question ("Why is violence in this specific context taboo?"). The answer is because it's illegal. Everyone understands, either implicitly or explicitly, that the state has a monopoly on violence. Therefore all extralegal violence is taboo. This is a separate issue from whether that violence is moral, just, necessary, etc.

If you have perfect foresight and you know that action X is the only thing that will prevent the human race from going extinct, then maybe action X is justified. But none of those conditions apply.

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