Imagine this complex machine; parts in contact with others need either
a lubricant, or a costly preventative maintenance replacement
schedule, or unplanned outages.

Assume the parts exude lubricant based on their experience in the
machine, so let's build those parts to respond to short term deficits
in other parts.  This awareness of the lubricant reserve of other
parts might be labelled Empathy.

Unfortunately, the Empathy assessment works best during contact,
rather than prior to contact.  So a default must be assumed; with very
low certainty, subject to further assessment.  Defaults can be wrong.

Null semantic transmissions such as "Hello", and "How are you?",
equivalent in networking to a ping, both serve as lubricants and may
aid assessment.  Some parts can transmit and receive emotional states,
and while they are in a majority, there will always be parts that
don't.  Other indicators must be used.  Latency of response, signal
strength, and bandwidth patterns can be indicative of several
conditions.

Based on the Empathy assessment, and on other goals, further
lubricants can be deployed.

What other goals?

Unplanned outages can be catastrophic to the machine.

Preventative maintenance is costly, as replacement of parts tends to
take many years and much raw material.

So another goal is a sustained investment in the well being of the
other parts; call it Caring.

An alternative is to self-exclude.  No empathy or caring required.

Choose life!

(My personal preference is a religious traditional eremitic or
monastic life, with occasional social contact.)

--=20
James Cameron
http://quozl.netrek.org/
--=20
http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.