Re: Extropian projects and popularity - call for action.

Harvey Newstrom (newstrom@newstaffinc.com)
Sat, 16 Jan 1999 11:40:31 -0500

> There are two basic approaches to this problem as I see it.
>
> 1. Whine and complain that normal people are too stupid to
> understand great ideas, and smart people are too depressed
> and/or selfish and/or unreliable to implement them.
>
> This helps, to vent the frustration, for the first 30 seconds or so.
>
> 2. Realize that the world is imperfect (that's good, isn't it, what
> would we do in a perfect world? Or in the world whose imperfections
> would be beyond our understanding?) and do something about it.

Approach #1 is a typical straw-man argument. All joking aside, nobody is really suggesting that this is the solution to anything. This straw-man approach implies that you are choosing among various options, but in reality you are not. You are presenting one and only one solution.

Approach #2 has the opposite problem. It is so perfectly vague that it is the correct answer to any problem. How could anybody disagree with "do something about it"? It is content-free.

This whole preamble to your suggestion does nothing to support your case. It is what I call "hype" and "content-free". You should skip all this verbiage and directly state what you are trying to say. 

-- 
Harvey Newstrom <newstrom@newstaffinc.com> <http://newstaffinc.com>
Author, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Consultant, Researcher, Scientist.