At 11:11 AM 10/13/99 -0500, Eliezer wrote:
>That has absolutely nothing to do with it. I don't bother with, say,
>Lorrey and Dees because Dees isn't a leading transhumanist and Lorrey
>isn't likely to stop arguing just because I ask politely; there's no
>prospect that intervention would help, and no need. If two of
>transhumanism's top PR experts wind up refusing never to speak to each
>other, that's a tragedy.
I hope you aren't referring to me by this. I am not in the business of PR. That's what we play publicists money for.
> If Max More and Greg Burch somehow managed to
>start fighting on a public email list, I'd wade into that too.
Not a good analogy, although I realize you are using an extreme. (At least I hope you are -:)
If two people I respect have a disagreement, I'd wade it and pay close attention to the overtures. Fighting is tricky. Just because someone wants to "fight" doesn't mean that it is consensual. What may look like a fight may be no more than a bit of wind in the other person's hair -- or even a bluster. Whereas a disagreement, however strong, can be beneficial in revealing character without all the gust.
Natasha