I have a fear of loss of information.
   I was in the library today and noticing how the reference
   materials were all dated 2006, 2009, 2002. These publishers
   stopped publishing paper books, putting the information
   exclusively online.

   Now, I want to see *everything* online - a lot of stuff is
   trapped in books even today, so I'm grateful things are going
   online.. but...

   here's the problem:

   DIgitized information is a fragile thing. I don't want to go
   into the technical details of it, but suffice to say, it's very
   fragile on far too many levels. It's easy to wipe out the
   Internet as we know it. I could do it from my chair, right here.
   It's not difficult and there are quite a number of ways.

   Now, there's nothing magical about books to me, but they have
   something the 'net doesn't have: object permanence. A library is
   on fire, some books are saved, some fragments remain.

   But consider this:

   Where will THIS MESSAGE be in 10 years?

   The likelihood of Facebook still being here is pretty small. It
   *might* exist in 10 years but it's more likely that it won't be
   here. Or, if it is here, where will this message from way back
   in July 2015 be in 2025?

   Good luck finding it.

   This is a problem. Loss of history happening as we speak. These
   very words.

   Now, I conveyed that fear in a few Vines but I considered it
   carefully. What's an unintended consequence of this "fear of
   loss of information"?

   Let's say a 9 yr old kid sees it. It sinks in deeply for some
   reason I can't fathom.

   It leads to a compulsion. What kind of compulsion could it lead
   to? Saving data? Backing up? Remembering to remember what people
   say? Becoming a hoarder? OCD? Never throwing a scrap of anything
   away?

   Worst case scenarios. All possible. Maybe even worse things are
   possible. But of what I considered, *more fear* being received
   than I "intend" - amplified by their own psychological nature
   won't be in an area that I consider "a bad thing".

   But... notice how in just a couple of messages, I misinterpreted
   what you wrote: it went from "emergent tech being a threat" to
   "Hawking calls for ban on AI robots" and concluded, incorrectly,
   that AI research should be banned.

   It's not what you intended, but it's what happened. That stuff
   happens all of the time. People make connections. We can't
   always be AWARE of the connections people are going to make but
   it's good to try.

   It's more than just one's own reputation; I don't care so much
   about my own reputation; but I *do* care about people treating
   each other well. I can't see any better way to make a better
   future than to try to make nicer people who are then nicer to
   others,and people who are fearless, not in proving their fears
   right - but fearless in pursuing their dreams instead of their
   fears.

   Anyway, that's a load of babble from me but when you said,
   "responsibility for the future" , this is the train of thought I
   jumped on.