Journal of Susana Reiviki: Alexander Gestler

I do not like Alexander Gestler.

First off, he wants me to provide him with chemical and biological weapons, for the purpose of bombarding planets.  He wants Maria to build chemical weapons into the EVA suits as a self-defense measure.  Perhaps this is the naivety that got me killed on Arcadia, but one does not use nerve agents for self-defense.  One does not use nerve agents in general.  They are banned on nearly every Linked System, and banned for good reason.

Secondly, Alexander Gestler killed me.  Not him specifically, but a soldier just like him.  Someone willing to follow orders without questioning the morality of said orders.  His master said to stab, and he stabbed.  If Gestler were in the position of the man who killed me, he would do exactly the same thing, and do it to the best of his ability.  If the man who killed me was in Mr. Gestler’s position, he would do what Gestler is doing to the best of his ability.  The two could be interchangeable.

It is men like Gestler that allow evil to thrive.   Not evil men, for evil men will selfishly struggle with each other, but men who are willing to serve, and serve a master whether good or bad.

Zephyr asked me the other day whether a smart AI is really worse than a human.  After all, while humans might be wired to be social, that has not stopped them from killing each other by the billion.  It is true that a smart AI might be against humanity, but it might also be for humanity.  Such is the nature of free will.  So why am I so leery of smart AI.

The answer isn’t that such an AI is not caring, or even that it is outright evil.  The question is power.  A geometrically expanding intellect is going to be very clever in short order, and intelligence begets knowledge, and knowledge is power.  Infinitely increasing intelligence is infinitely increasing power, and what should have such power?  Nothing that may ever use that power badly, certainly.

This all relates to Gestler and his ilk.  He is completely amoral, and simply increases the power of another.  I have no qualms about service, but service should always be limited to helping others in ethical ways.  In that way, those with great power have more power if they do good, and less power if they attempt to do evil.  If they are selfish, it still serves them to do good, if all those who serve them will only follow good orders.

The historians of New Eden say that selfishness and evil naturally rise to the top, and without competition, there is nothing that keeps them from abusing their position to any degree short of losing said position.  I disagree.  If a selfish person rises to the top, if all those who serve him are only loyal when the selfish person is also good, then the selfish person can profit much more by cooperative behavior than by parasitic behavior, and all is well…

…If it weren’t, of course, for those people like Gestler, who are loyal in all situations, even if they are called upon to do evil.