>From: Sasha Chislenko <sasha1@netcom.com>
>
>>At 11:11 PM 00/03/06, Zero Powers wrote:
>>
>>I believe you *are* a pioneer. I am sure that in 20-30 years when >>the
>>viability of strong AI and nanotech start to become evident to >>the world
>>at large, folks will look back to the archived writings >>and web pages of
>>some of the people on this list and say "hey, >>those freaks were right
>>all along!"
>
>I had that experience in Russia, where the dissidents were right all
>along, and for years were not just disbelieved, but in the best cased
>dismissed and shun, and more often than not, persecuted, and living
>in fear and poverty. Now everybody knows they were right all along,
>but nobody even concentrates on this. People - the healthy, unscared
>persecutors and the rest of the crowd who were busy making money and
>contacts and having fun while the "pioneers" were bleeding for common
>future - now these people own all the results, and they never pay to,
>write about, or think of the dissidents.
>
>How many of the Internet billionaires are talking, writing, or
>supporting pioneers of the Web and cryptography?
>
>How many times in your life do you hear: "You were right all along.
>We were dumb. Now, please have our money"?
>
>I know some aging Russian dissidents in Boston who are still discussing
>who was right when, over tea with cheap cakes bought on foodstamps.
>Nobody else ever listens.
>
>I am for practicism now. There is little point lamenting that the
>world is ungrateful. Not as the main method of self-gratification
>anyway. If you are a pioneer, make sure you can benefit from it too.
>Or if you are an unselfish pioneer, be prepared to be forgotten.
I agree with you. It won't make a hill of beans to me whether I am
remembered as a "pioneer" for advocating some Extropian ideas before it
became cool. But since we (unless like most) anticipate that we will, one
way or another, make it to the era of indefinite human life span, we can
(and do) prepare for it now.
Some of my friends treat their brain as if it doesn't matter all that much.
In their minds all they need it to do is last in fairly usable shape until
they're about 70 years old and then they won't need it anymore. I (like
many on this list I would imagine) on the other hand, realize that my brain
is my single most valuable possession. I also realize that I may be in need
of its services for hundreds of years. So I treat it that way, making sure
it gets adequate regular exercise (use it or lose it), and protecting it
from the harmful effects of alcohol and drug abuse.
That is a real, tangible, immediate benefit of adopting Extropian concepts
now. You realize that your brain is a valuable tool that you may need to
get use out of for a very, very long time.
-Zero
"To infinity and beyond!"
-- B. Lightyear
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