Eliezer wrote:
>I have to confess, some of the discussion on Extropians these days is
>making me feel sick to my stomach. It is enough to make me seriously
>consider leaving, possibly for good, or until someone else informs me that
>the list has made a recovery. If Extropy and ExI takes a serious hit from
>the xenophobia now being tossed about on the mailing list in the name of
>free speech, don't say I didn't warn you, because transhumanists in
>general *are* being held responsible for what gets said in these public
>forums.
>[snip]
I am snipping most of Eliezer's post for the sake of brevity, but I have a
few comments I would like to make. First of all, Eliezer is correct that
this list is a privately-run public forum. Anyone who looks at the
archives can make any determination of the content he or she
wants. However, that is true of *all* written content currently on the
internet (and elsewhere). There are ways to prevent the public from
perceiving transhumanism in a negative way, but anyone who has a will to
slander the philosophy of Extropy can freely do it. It has been done, and
will continue to be done, regardless of what is said on this mailing
list. The same can be said for Singularitarianism and any other movement
or sub-movement.
>There are no "Indians". There are no "Afghani". There are only humans.
>Transhumanism, and Singularitarianism, are basically egalitarian
>philosophies, because they permit the analysis of cosmic perspectives, and
>when you look through a cosmic perspective the modern-day divisions
>between humans become absurd.
While there is truth to that, I would also like to say that the world
*right now* doesn't have the same lack of racial distinction that is
proffered above. While it is rather idyllic to look upon humanity as being
one race, that is a view that is shared by few. To ignore this fact as we
march ahead into the future is, in my view, self defeating. We have to be
aware to the landscape we are in right now to have any kind of success with
our views. This means that not only should we ignore it and uphold the
ideal ourselves, we should bring *more* light to the issue...rationally
>Well, that's what it's really about. I think it'd be nice if everyone who
>agrees with this reasoning posts a "Me too!", and everyone who disagrees
>with the argument but agrees with the conclusion posts a note saying that
>as well. The people who are new to the list need to see something to
>outweigh some of the poisonous remarks that seem to be getting so much
>airtime.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I haven't seen any remarks as poisonous as Eliezer
claims. I *am* aware that there have been remarks verging on ad hominem,
and I have taken steps to prevent that, but if someone posts a constructive
argument for or against something, then I'm all for it.
> Of course I fear that most of the good guys in this battle may
>have already gotten sick of the list and unsubscribed, so it may be too
>late. But for the record, I want to say that there was a time when I
>would never have needed to post this message, and *that* is what
>transhumanism is *really* about, no matter what happens to this mailing
>list.
For the record, from my side of things I don't see that the issue is as
detrimental as Eliezer's post paints it to be.
________________________________________________________
E. Shaun Russell Operations Officer, Extropy Institute
e_shaun@extropy.org http://www.extropy.org
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~K i n e t i c i z e Y o u r P o t e n t i a l~
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