Arresting Jokers in the Houston Airport
Lincoln Cannon
26 August 2008 (updated 8 October 2025)
I’m sitting in the Houston airport, returning from a family vacation – you know, relaxing from all that hard work on the New God Argument. Just a moment ago, a recorded voice stated: “We would like to remind you that any jokes or inappropriate remarks about security may result in your arrest.”
The persons that recorded this message should be focusing on mitigating greater risks to our future than persons vocalizing inappropriate remarks (whatever those may be).
We’ve just experienced a revolution in infotech. And we may be on the cusp of a revolution in biotech. Who knows? We may be worrying about grey goo and evil AGI within decades.
Yet here we are, threatening to arrest persons that vibrate vocal cords in patterns we don’t like. Does our collective fear of divergent thoughts constitute a crowded theatre? Let it not be so.