Re: The Extropian Principles

Max More (maxmore@primenet.com)
Mon, 19 Aug 1996 13:40:45 -0700 (MST)


At 10:06 AM 8/15/96 +0100, Sarah Marr wrote:
>
>I've never said spontaneously ordering processes can only give rise to other
>spontaneously ordering processes: what I _have_ said is that spontaneously
>ordering processes can only give rise to spontaneous orders, by definition.
[snip]
>
>It isn't spontaneous ordering processes which 'produce results inimical to
>spontaneous order', it's intervening non-SO processes which do that, as you
>describe.
>
>I don't think we're disagreeing about this, are we Max?

No, I don't think we are. My apologies for misunderstanding you Sarah.

The recent discussion on spontaneous order encouraged me to do more thinking
about whether Spontaneous Order should be one the Extropian Principles. I've
been considering removing that as a principle for well over a year now. The
confusion about the idea, its lack of immediate comprehensibility by most
people (anyone without a substantial theoretical background in certain
areas), and the lack of clarity in the concept (e.g. it might imply that
Extropians like *all* spontaneous orders and their products), have all led
me to decide that it's time to remove this as a Principle.

I've been thinking about the structure of the next version of the Principles
since v. 2.5 were completed. Version 3.0 should be done before long. What to
do about Spontaneous Order has been one of the delays. I've now decided:
Spontaneous Order will be replaced be the Principle of: Self-Ownership.

I was anticipating an expansion in the number of principles from five to
probably seven. Peter Voss made the good point that it's hard to remember
more than four or five items in a list for most people. I now think there
may be only *four* principles in version 3.0, but with sub-principles,
values, and ideas, subsumed within each principle. I intend the new
structure to make it much easier to explain the essentials of extropian
thinking.

More later...

Upward and Outward!

Max

Max More, Ph.D.
maxmore@primenet.com
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President: Extropy Institute (ExI)
Editor: Extropy
310-398-0375
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore/extropy.htm