On Mon, 6 Mar 2000, john grigg wrote:
> Spike wrote:
> Why can we discuss such things as uploading, uplifting, singularity, space
> cables, qualia, cryonics, nanotech... well pretty much all the bizarre stuff
> we talk about, and none of us even thinks it the least bit... strange? It's
> this, friends: most all of us here must have some mental architecture that
> is wired seriously different,
No, Spike, I think I have to disagree. My feeling in interacting with
Eric D. or Robert F. isn't that they are "different" from myself, but
simply that they connect the dots much faster. Because of that the
conclusions they draw "seem" different. So it is not so much what you
believe that is important, but the rate at which you can accept or reject
logical arguments. If you make the dots very close together and draw the
lines very slowly between them, I don't think anybody is going to fail to
follow. Those who do are invoking "invisible" lines and must simply be
written off. Those who accept "real" lines may be redeemable and you
should work with them on getting the "ah ha's" as long as possible.
>
> There must be something about each of us that causes a closer introspective
> look at the changes technology will make to society and the individual.
No, I suspect it is a willingness to give up loosely cemented beliefs
or a willingness to ignore the pressure of society for the pressure of
"logic".
> It must be a combination of imagination and intellectual curiosity.
Perhaps.
> I can see how because many of you by being engineers, scientists and
> computer specialists would be here but it does take more then just that
> or we would have many more people on this list.
No, you have to allow that many simply aren't aware of us. Others don't
have the time or energy to get involved. There is also a very subtle
distinction between the engineers/computer people & the scientists.
One group puts things together, the other group takes things apart.
People who put things together simply want to make something that
works (and if they can see how to do that, it doesn't matter how
complex it is). People who take things apart are generally constrained
that those things be "simple". But if you look at science, it seems
clear that things aren't setup to be fundamentally "simple". So
the perspective seems very "iffy".
More than other things, I think Extropians are people who value
rational thought over preconceptions.
Robert
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