"Steven Cordich" <calrissian@hotbot.com> writes:
> Having recently read Extropian goals of moving beyond dogmatic types
The simple explanation is that people simply disagree over the value
of Wilson's writings. It should also be added that Eli tends to be a
bit... ehum... categorical.
>thinking, perhaps I'm guilty of dogmatic thinking myself when I point
>out what seems to be a rather sharp division between some peoples
>views of Leary and Wilson and Max More's listing them as recommeded
>reading. My time is limited, so could somebody clarify what I'm
>missing here.
Wilson is an intelligent man who likes to challenge traditional thinking, and he has probably helped more people than I can count with breaking free of constrained views of the world through his novels and books. In this respect he is quite extropian, especially since he also advocates a lot of the stuff we want - life extension, freedom, mental development far beyond the human level, cryonics etc. The problem with Wilson is that he can be uncritical - he is always happy to play with the latest heresy but not to scrutinize if it holds water (instead, if pressed, he jumps to a new heresy) - and often likes to mix serious ideas with jokes or even elaborate double-level messages that may or may not be what he is really meaning. Tricky to decide what he is *really* saying, and not everybodys cup of tea.
I would recommend Wilson as an eye-opener, but I wouldn't trust him as a guide for a moment. We need critical thinking, not just wide open minds.
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