That’s not what I asked. I’m arguing that there aren’t enough PCs of the caliber that you think can’t destroy the world, and I think can, for the world not being destroyed to serve as strong evidence that this class of PCs can’t, when you consider how rare it is to desperately want to (as I described in my last post) destroy the world.
So I asked how many PCs of the highest caliber you think exist there are, not how many are there that can actually destroy the world, and I also asked:
How many PCs (of roughly the highest caliber you think exist) do you think there are who are making a desperate, extraordinary, near-lifelong effort to destroy the world (including themselves)?
How many PCs (of roughly the highest caliber you think exist) do you think there are who are making a desperate, extraordinary, near-lifelong effort to destroy the world (including themselves)?
Not many. I’d be surprised if there were more than one or two. But if they’re powerful enough, it would only take one or two throughout the course of recent history (and maybe earlier).
I think it might be more useful to instead look at world political order rather than the world itself. It is uncontroversially the case that there are a great many people who consider themselves enemies of the United States and wish to destroy or destabilize it, for instance. Has there never been a true PC among this group?
You have convinced me that destroying America, but not the rest of the world is hard. But I think destroying the world is now a lot easier than it ever was, and it is easier than destroying a particular power and leaving your own country intact. I think there are (or have been) some true PCs that wanted to destroy The US, but failed. I don’t think any of them (at least in recent enough history) wanted to destroy humankind though.
Usually I am very wary of arguments that spit in the face of large numbers. But I seriously think 10B humans is not enough to find such a person among them.
That’s not what I asked. I’m arguing that there aren’t enough PCs of the caliber that you think can’t destroy the world, and I think can, for the world not being destroyed to serve as strong evidence that this class of PCs can’t, when you consider how rare it is to desperately want to (as I described in my last post) destroy the world.
So I asked how many PCs of the highest caliber you think exist there are, not how many are there that can actually destroy the world, and I also asked:
Would you mind tabooing “PCs”.
Not many. I’d be surprised if there were more than one or two. But if they’re powerful enough, it would only take one or two throughout the course of recent history (and maybe earlier).
I think it might be more useful to instead look at world political order rather than the world itself. It is uncontroversially the case that there are a great many people who consider themselves enemies of the United States and wish to destroy or destabilize it, for instance. Has there never been a true PC among this group?
You have convinced me that destroying America, but not the rest of the world is hard. But I think destroying the world is now a lot easier than it ever was, and it is easier than destroying a particular power and leaving your own country intact. I think there are (or have been) some true PCs that wanted to destroy The US, but failed. I don’t think any of them (at least in recent enough history) wanted to destroy humankind though.
Usually I am very wary of arguments that spit in the face of large numbers. But I seriously think 10B humans is not enough to find such a person among them.