Re: Free Markets: Extro-Nazi's or Extro-Saints (Extrosattvas)
Max More (maxmore@primenet.com)
Sun, 14 Sep 1997 00:25:06 -0700
At 08:56 AM 9/13/97 -0400, Greg Burch wrote:
>
>I have always imagined the boddisattva as one for whom kindness is no burden,
>because of the liberation of the enlightenment that she has experienced.
> Freed from the illusion of the immutability of one's own consciousness, one
>is free to help others at little cost to one's self. Consider how this image
>translates to a conception of a post-human "Power": With complete mastery
>over material reality through advanced nanotechnology and intelligence
>augmentation, how simple it becomes to help others. Not every transcended
>Power would devote effort to such endeavors, just as every newly-enlightened
>buddha doesn't hang back from nirvana to assist others less enlightened. But
>that some will seems inevitable.
Your most interesting post made me think of something Nietzsche said about
generosity. I don't have the exact words at hand, but the gist was that the
powerful (he may have said "noble") help the weaker not out of altruism,
obligation, or guilt, but as an expression and outpouring of their own
super-abundant power and health. For those who confuse generosity with
guilt, this is an interesting perspective.
Max
Max More, Ph.D.
more@extropy.org
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President, Extropy Institute: exi-info@extropy.org, http://www.extropy.org