Al Billings wrote:
>
> Michael wrote:
>
> > Oh boy, now its a pissing contest. Frankly, most of the people I know in
> > transhumanism are most definitely NOT vapid escapists, extropians in
> particular.
> > If Exi were more into vapid escapism I'm sure they'd have a far larger
> > following, even just in California.
>
> I'm sure that the science fiction reading Extropians that I've been running
> into since college in 1992 who are waiting for that ideal future after the
> singularity when they can upload their minds and create their own personal
> universes are not escapists. The fact that most of them that I've known don't
> do anything towards this end, hold dead-end jobs and play lots of Dungeons and
> Dragons isn't terribly telling, right?
Which extropians are these exactly? The telling difference between those 'D&D
playing' extropians (none that I know over age 16) and the vapid escapists are
that extropes know such things are fantasy, while the vapid escapists that are
into mysticism think that that is the real world. There is a significant
difference between the two.
Most extropes I know do work toward many of the goals of extropians, though
typically those which interest them the most. The artists do art, the engineers
do things like design and build rockets, the medical people research longevity,
intelligence, and cryonics, the computer people work on computers.
Take ANY extropian I know, and they have far more on the ball than any non
extrope I know, on average, and vastly more than any mystic I know, who
typically are still playing with crystals into middle age.
>
> The dream world that some have painted for life after the mythical
> singularity bears an amazing resemblance to the religious doctrine of some
> faiths.
Oh please. Sounds like one more troll.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:36:49 MDT