The entire problem with arms races is that any individual entity cannot avoid participating.
replysama and his cadre are uniquely evil captains in this race, but they're completely replaceable and the dynamic would remain the same.
They could work to coordinate an end to the arms race.
replyThe arms race is an intrinsic game theoretical property of a multi-adversarial-actor scenario involving exponential growth of a universally potent technology. It's almost certainly winner-take-all, on a global scale, which behooves everyone to participate.
replyAnd no, I don't think it will end well.
The actors here are states or corporations embedded in societies that risk growing popular backlash against the technology.
replyThe other factor is that if it is truly an "alien mind", racing incurs risks to all players. In game-theoretic terms it may be more like a stag hunt than a prisoner's dilemma. In which case cooperation is an equilibrium.
No previous technological arms race has ever concluded with a single winner.
replyJust like the rest of military stuff.
replyBut done by corporations, and selling that service to the general public, including their competitors and adversary countries
reply"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
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