Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> I believe that [Fred Reed's essay] violates many of the list
> rules and should not be on this list. Only the fact that it
> was not aimed at specific list members has prevented me from
> seeking a ban on this topic and the posters who distributed
> this garbage.
Oh great. Here we have an issue that taxes the emotional
control and objectivity even of extropians and... sure
enough, someone wants to ban it. Do you not wonder then,
that people want to ban cloning and everything else that
makes them feel uncomfortable?
The worst thing that I can say about the act of *posting*
such an article is that it is in poor taste insofar as
many of the lurkers are concerned. (I'll defend that thesis
some other time.) But for extropians, it is obviously
exactly what is needed, and the 800 lurkers have to gear
up to the level of perspicacious analysis plain speaking
that often occurs here.
If we cannot learn how to be objective and calm with
ideas that disturb *us*, then how are we to approach
telling others about Jupiter brains, uploading, and
the singularity?
Michael Butler writes
> Given the number of reposts, I'd simply argue that
> it has constituted something akin to IRC "flooding".
Nonsense. This is yet another symptom of the fact that
you are made very uncomfortable by the possibility that
while not literally correct, the essay delves into "areas
that people were not meant to discuss". One instance
of the reposting was done as a rather humorous comeback
to someone who had written
> Oh, by all means, let's RE-POST the entire article. </sarcasm>
The other repost that I'm aware of occurred when someone commented
that he'd thrown his away already.
> I'd make the same argument if it were a repeatedly posted
> article about Central Europeans and their tendency to eat
> flatulence-fostering foods.
By no means would such a post make people so uncomfortable.
Now, what *would* *I* complain about in like wise? If a
post were exceedingly vulgar or moronic, I suppose. But
then, you probably consider the Fred Reed piece vulgar
and moronic, or do I miss my guess? If so, you have to
explain how it is that a number of intelligent people do
not find it either vulgar or stupid.
Lee
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:01 MDT