Re: Intelligence in a Box (was Re: Nietzsche (transhumanist philosopher))

From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Oct 10 2000 - 09:26:15 MDT


Idle curiosity is the worst possible reason to ask about the most profound
aspects of life.

Stay hungry,

--J. R.
3M TA3

----- Original Message -----
From: <Spudboy100@aol.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 10:19 AM
Subject: Re: Intelligence in a Box (was Re: Nietzsche (transhumanist
philosopher))

> I wonder why you are concerned with Deiicide(sp) and how it relates to modern
> life? If the concept of God is gone from humanity, do you expect that the
> people who believe will not take up some other nonsense? Will you be safer
> from the missionaries, will sociry be more sensible and humane? Are you
> rebelling against Jesus, Jerry Fallwell, the Buddha, Pagans, whom? All? Just
> curious. Because I wonder where the payoff is?
>
>
> In a message dated 9/1/00 9:55:28 AM Pacific Daylight Time, fm1@amug.org
> writes:
>
> << To me, the essence of Nietzsche is that he was a destroyer
> of the boxes within which people are intelligent.
>
> In his attempt to destroy religious boxes, he said "God is dead!"
> and got his message onto the cover of Time magazine.
>
> Many religious people are highly intelligent... within their
> religious boxes.
>
> Max Stirner ('The Ego and its Own') was, in my opinion, a
> more penetrating box-destroyer than Nietzsche. He essentially
> said, "You need to go beyond killing God, you need to destroy
> the very notion of "god" (so-called), the very idea of "god"; the
> word "god" needs to become no more than a nonsense-noise
> to you."
>
> Nietzsche also attempted to destroy political boxes:
> "There are still peoples and herds somewhere, but not with us,
> my brothers: here there are states.
> The state? What is that? Well then! Now open your ears, for
> now I shall speak to you of the death of peoples.
> The state is the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly it lies, too;
> and this lie creeps from its mouth; 'I, the state, am the people.'
> It is a lie! It was creators who created peoples and hung a faith
> and a love over them: thus they served life.
> It is destroyers who set snares for many and call it the state:
> they hang a sword and a hundred desires over them.
> Where a people still exists, there the people do not understand
> the state and hate it as the evil eye and sin against custom and
> law.
> I offer you this sign: every people speaks its own language of
> good and evil: its neighbor does not understand this language.
> It invented this language for itself in custom and law.
> But the state lies in all languages of good and evil; and whatever
> it says, it lies -- and whatever it has, it has stolen.
> Everything about it is false; it bites with stolen teeth. Even its
> belly is false.
> Confusion of the language of good and evil; I offer you this sign
> of the state. Truly, this sign indicates the will to death! Truly,
> it beckons to the preachers of death!
> Many too many are born: the state was invented for the
> superfluous!
> Just see how it lures them, the many-too-many! How it devours
> them, and chews them, and re-chews them!
> ...It would like to range heroes and honorable men about it, this
> new idol! It likes to sun itself in the sunshine of good consciences
> -- this cold monster!
> It will give you everything if you worship it, this new idol: thus it
> buys for itself the luster of your virtues and the glance of your
> proud eyes.
> It wants to use you to lure the many-too-many. Yes, a cunning
> device of Hell has here been devised, a horse of death jingling
> with the trappings of divine honors!
> Yes, a death for many has here been devised that glorifies itself
> as life: truly a heart-felt service to all preachers of death!
> I call it the state where everyone, good and bad, is a poison-drinker:
> the state where everyone, good and bad, loses himself: the state
> where universal slow suicide is called -- life." [emphasis added]
> >>
>



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