Gun Extropy

reedart@ix.netcom.com
Thu, 23 Jul 1998 06:45:31 -0800

a note from the list:

> I don't think tools are extropian - people are.
>
> You can do more damage and more good with a powerful computer than
> with a gun. Technology is amoral. All technology can be used towards
> extropian goals, or toward 'entropian' goals.
>
> The choice is ours.
>
> Certainly, rejecting technology that the 'entropians' regularly misuse
> (such as guns) will not help the 'extropians'. After first inventing
> the technology, and letting it fall into the wrong hands, giving it up
> completely into the hands of 'entropians' is probably the dumbest
> thing an 'extropian' can do.

>>>Hear hear, and excellent way of putting the debate in extropic terms.

ya know, one of the most exasperating things about this list to ME, is that (only some) people who call themsleves futurists, find this way of using the oldest thinking in the book... this is the old "if only criminals have guns" argument, but neatly turned into an emotional ploy for wanna-be techno-better-thans.. being a superhuman techno-geek is a good thing, but it sure doesn't seem to qualify much emotional IQ... Listen - shooting a gun at someone, in itself, is a lame, neanderthal thing to do, whether you are being attacked or not. A smart person, an ADVANCED person, or if you like and EXTROPIC person, would have either PREPARED themselves (so they don't get in that kind of circumstance) or have a better game plan than that... messy - old fashioned - crude...