Damien Broderick wrote:
> At 12:50 AM 12/11/98 -0800, Paul Hughes wrote
>
> >Lest we forget, it was [Eliezer] and Damien who decided to flame me first.
>
> Sorry if you read my (rather bluntly expressed) comment on RAW/Leary as a
> flame directed personally at you. I was trying to convey a general point -
> I apologise if you felt wounded.
>
> I don't think there's much point in citing the outdated views of great
> scientists when the original daft document claimed that parts of the brain
> were designed for that future era when we enter our eventual
> extraterrestrial kingdom.
I apologize if you somehow got the idea that I ever supported this "embryonic extraterrestrial intelligence" waiting to emerge, as I said I don't quite early in this fiasco. What started out as a wonderful and stimulating conversation for me personally, quickly devolved into what clearly became a concentrated flame by you and Eliezer of why I would ever quote such 'gibberish'. Last I checked a footnote is not a quote. Besides, I was simply trying to bring the 8-circuit model into the conversation as a way of making a point about free-will vs. Eliezer's well developed Singularity hypothesis. Unfortunately, both of you decided to find the most admittedly loony parts of this footnote and completely distract the intended direction I was trying to move the conversation. Despite the several pleas I made to move past this distraction, you and Eliezer decided to continue your "crusade" against Wilson and everything he stands for, as if *I* am somehow his loyal supporter. Get real! Meanwhile, Eliezer and you continued to conveniently ignore *all* scientific or rational information I brought into the thread. As far as I'm concerned you might as well have attacked me personally - it had the same effect - complete dismissal of my *own* ideas and integrity. And based on what? A footnote to someone else's writing!?
Needless to say, I'm now reluctantly ambivalent about certain list members credibility.
Paul Hughes