Date: 22 Apr 2000 12:47:56 +0200
From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
Subject: Re: Posthuman Easter greets
"Steve" <steve@multisell.com> writes:
> The so-called 'radical' transhumanism is no longer radically futurist - it
> is just a philosophical wing of big business and the political mainstream.
>This is an interesting accusation. As I see it, the goal of much of
>the transhumanist movement has been just to become mainstream. Being
>radical has no intrinsic value if you strive to do something practically.
If we agree that Transhumans are part of human mainstream culture (because
events have overtaken them rather than because of the efforts of a 'hip,
exclusive little group') then what purpose is there for continuation of
transhumanism or extropians? If you have nothing radical to impart, then how
can you be a futurist?
>If your goal is to be part of a hip, exclusive little
>group in order to boost your ego, then it makes sense to try to keep
>apart from the mainstream at all costs.
You misread me ..... I want the mainstream to move on again, and not get
caught in some Transhuman limbo or 'local minima.' What comes after
transhuman now that transhuman is the mainstream? Post/ neo or X-human .....
and the evolution will be psycho-biological as much as technological.
The posthuman egroup list has been discussing better alternatives to human
pair-bonding monogamy/ monotony, for example.
>As for being a philosophical wing of big business, that seems to be a
>standard accusation these days. We in Aleph were told that we were
>bought mouthpieces of the biotechnology business - I just wonder where
>the millions are? :-) In fact, the overall slant among transhumanists
>seems to be rather anti-corporativists, even if plenty are
>libertarians or otherwise capitalistic.
Obviously there are as many political views are there are individuals ... I
was making a broad-brush point here.
> With the adoption of the internet on a wide scale and the NASDAQ
explosion,
> the weight of mainstream commercial and media opinion has actually been
> "transhuman", for some time, particularly in the wake of the 2000
millenium
> build-up.
>This is actually true - our ideas are diffusing into the mainstream at
>an accelerating pace. We better keep up with them.
Or overtake them, surely! All I am saying is that change and transformation
require us to be looking ahead, not just trying to keep pace with the
mainstream ..... what comes after trans-human if not post-human?
> So the swifter and more positive, radical, option is to declare yourself
> post- or neohuman at the outset, act as though it were true, and wait for
> the changes to happen all by themselves!
Oh! I'm a jupiter brain. This easter I'm going to act as if I was a
~100 km sphere of diamondoid quantum dot cellular automata, surrounded
by a corona of solar collectors and radiators and with a mental
capacity a few billon times the whole of humanity (it could have been
more, but those posthuman screensavers take a *lot* of memory, even
when they are not running). I can think billions of superhuman
thoughts at once, weaving together strands of ideas without the least
risk of getting confused. I understand all of human history and
knowledge just as easily as a human could understand a simple
equation. Hmm, let's start with terraforming Sweden...
But do you believe the above? It is fairly standard in hypnotherapy to make
positive assertions and declarations so the the "subconscious" can bring
about the desired effects without interference from the critical mind. I
happen to belive that post/neohuman is attainable (indeed has been
attained!) by me, whereas my skull wouldn't hold a brain the size of
Jupiter.
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 13:03:07 CDT
From: "Randy Smith" <randysmith101@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Easter posthuman greetings
Ahem, speaking of "content-free," none of the links you cited in this post
have any content.
Ooops, blame the www.Att.ac site absence on Ascension Islands InterNic, but
the MVT solution to mind-body problem pages at www.multi.co.uk/identity.htm
are working as are the www.X-human.com &c.
>www.Enochian-chess.com 6th degree magick & self-initiation
.........
>Hmm. I would think that the words "magick" and "extropian" would be
mutually
>exclusive.
Like Newton, I am a practitioner of natural magick (a follower of
Constabulus, as was Descartes). As an experimental 'science' it is perfectly
in order to reject SUPERNATURALISM as I do, yet follow the path of the Adept
in trying to "equilibriate the personality in order to direct the forces of
nature." Magick is about development of the magickal Will and ingenium, and
enhancing our capacity for altered states. Transcendance, understanding and
control over our environment.
Chaos Magick (Pete Carroll) is another natural magick system involving the
suspension of disbelief. I see most of the rituals as a form of
"role-playing" various deities in order to get an inside guide to their
nature or associated powers. Enochian Chess (the enochian system was
developed by Elizabeth 1st astrology, John Dee, also used by Golden Dawn)
can be played for brainstorming and psycho-strategic purposes even without
believing in active divination.
After-human magick is of a more effective and truthful type than the occult
philosophy from the supernaturalist theistic era. The Primal Eye
psychotherapy work that I am involved with is not comparible with the weird
atlantean 'Blavatskian' "third eye" theories. Nor am I concerned with flaky
extraterrestrial fantasies.
Steve@multisell.com
www.steve-nichols.com
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