Re: EMOTIONAL IQ: (Transhumans: Anger management vs. Guns)

mark@unicorn.com
Thu, 10 Jun 1999 06:12:03 -0700 (PDT)

dwayne [dwayne@pobox.com] wrote:
>Thatcher was socialist?

I'd say Thatcher was more of a fascist, but that's not what I was talking about. Britain used to be an incredibly socialist nation, and while Thatcher increased that in some areas (more taxes, more Health Service funding) and it's still far more socialist than America in most areas, it's hardly comparable to the state it was in before she was elected.

>Actually, I like this idea. It surprises me that you guys wouldn't.
>I guess suffering in a harsh and ugly future is cooler than living in a
>world where me managed to fix the buggered bits.

I'm quite happy to fix my 'buggered bits'. What offends me is the continual suggestions of forcibly 'fixing' other people's 'buggered bits'. Not to mention that a society of people having perpetual orgasms is likely to very rapidly collapse, even if they don't become just resources for the few aggressive posthumans who escape the purge.

>Why get angry about it? Why not just ask them to stop?

Because if you don't get angry when you ask them to stop they're not going to know how much you want them to stop. Anger is a well-developed social convention which tells other people when they've gone too far.

Mark