You can retrieve the list's info file at any time by sending
"info extropians" to extropians-request@extropy.org...
>>>> info extropians
W E L C O M E T O T H E E X T R O P I A N S L I S T
Where did you hear about us?
In response to your request, your address has been added to the
Extropians mailing list. Welcome! We expect you will find the
information you receive through the List highly intellectually
stimulating, and inspiring.
This message informs you of the few list rules subscribers abide by, and
tells you where to find out more about what Extropians talk about
and practice.
What characteristics do readers of the Extropians List have in common?
Despite a strong diversity of characters and interests, all share an
interest in overcoming human limits through science, technology,
and reason. List subscribers have an interest in some or all of the
following:
--Life extension beyond the current genetic limit, including
experimental approaches such as cryonic suspension;
--the augmentation of human intelligence;
--individualist, voluntary approaches to social and political institutions
(many subscribers call themselves libertarians);
--the technological extension of human perception and cognition;
--artificial intelligence and artificial life;
--advanced computer technology;
--rational ethics (ethics for survival and flourishing)
--nanotechnology, and other advanced and future technologies;
--the philosophical and psychological aspects and issues of
perpetually improving our lives; and space colonization.
--the use of art to represent extropic ideas and values
--the economics of accelerating change and of the future
The unifying characteristic of these ideas and values is the drive
to increase extropy. Extropy is a measure of intelligence, information,
vitality, opportunity, and capacity for growth. Not all list subscribers
wish to apply a label to themselves, but many who share these values
and ideas call themselves Extropians. If these ideas appeal to you,
you may already be an Extropian.
We have a number of rules about how you interact with the list. Your
continued subscription indicates your acceptance of these rules.
We do not like rules for their own sake. The List rules are just those
we believe will keep the level of discussion high and polite. Subscribers'
time is valuable. To keep as many people active and reading the list as
possible, we need to respect them by keeping the signal to noise
ratio as high as possible.
I suggest you read the postings for a while before you begin to post.
In that way you will have a better idea of how the list works. Also,
topics vary from week to week, and month to month; sometimes we are
very technical other times very political or philosophical.
ESPECIALLY FOR USERS OF THE LIST WHEN IT DISALLOWED FORWARDING OF POSTS:
If you post to the Extropians List, you must anticipate that your
writing might be forwarded to another list or to particular individuals.
Postings will appear in a publicly-accessible archive at the following
URL: http://www.lucifer.com/exi-lists/extropians
1) Formal complaints and administrative requests should be sent to:
postmaster@extropy.org
2a) Mail to the list should be sent to:
extropians@extropy.org
2b) The software that processes traffic on the list alters the mail headers
so that all correctly working mail readers will automatically address
replies BACK to the LIST. [reply-to: extropians@extropy.org]
2c) If you want to reply to an individual poster you should manually address
a reply. If the post does not have a signature line, viewing the message
in a text editor should help you determine the sender's address.
2d) It is strongly recommend but not required that all list members use a
signature file containing their e-mail address.
3) Due to the volume of list traffic please restrain yourself from over-
quoting previous posts -- just a couple of lines to re-cap for those who
weren't paying attention is usually sufficient.
4) The list is conceived as a forum for the exchange of new information
and techniques, and not as a forum for debating the basics. We do have
our disagreements -- often quite lively ones -- but rarely about really
basic issues. Arguments in favor of socialized medicine or dying a
natural death at age sixty are, judging by past experience, likely to be
refuted, and finally ignored.
5) Traffic on this mailing list can run quite high. We like to keep the
signal- to-noise ratio as high as we can, so please restrain the impulse
to post "me-too" messages or ad hominem flames to the list at large.
If you cannot resist engaging in such discourse, please do so
in private e-mail.
5b) Posts about the list, or its rules, should have the pre-fix "META:"
We encourage the use of other prefixes indicating the content of a post.
Examples include, PHIL:, MATH:, SCI:, CHAT:, etc.
5c) Polls being submitted to list members will have the "POLL:"
prefix.
5d) Rules about fighting and insulting; fighting and insulting
are not allowed!
5e) If someone starts a fight with you what should you do?; we have a
private legal code set-up to handle such disputes which includes a
judge (the List Administrator) and an adjudicator to handle appeals.
If someone really annoys you, you can do any of the following:
1) Nothing - give no response
2) Respond OFF the list
5) Make a formal complaint to me asking for a judgment against Person X
5f) What if you just have to respond to "up hold your honor" or to set
the "facts/record straight," or to tell the entire list why you
will not be speaking or reading posts or messages from the person who
offended you?
D O N ' T!
we consider such responses flames in their own right and you would
be taking the law into your own hands; you might also be censured or
removed from the list.
Remember:
Don't contribute to or continue a fight once one has started.
doing so places you in violation of the list rules. That includes
meta communication, which includes posts with an angry tone, or voice.
EXTROPIAN IDEAS: INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a forum for the interchange
of information... speak up! Many of the answers, though, can be found...
...in a handful of books...
"Matter and Consciousness", by Paul M. Churchland
"Maximum Life Span" and "The 120-Year Diet" by Roy Walford
"The Selfish Gene," and "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins
"Engines of Creation" and "Unbounding the Future" by K.Eric Drexler
"The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism " by David Friedman
"Cryonics: Reaching for Tomorrow", The Alcor Life Extension Foundation
"Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence", by Hans Moravec
"The Ultimate Resource", by Julian L. Simon
"Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition" by Ed Regis
...in a few essays...
Max More, President of Extropy Institute, has written several essays that
convey many essentials of extropian thinking. You might want to read:
The Extropian Principles, v.2.5 -- http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore/extprn26
On Becoming Posthuman -- http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore/becoming
[If you don't have a Web browser, you can ask for these essays to be
mailed to you. Send your request to: maxmore@primenet.com]
...in EXTROPY magazine...
Extropy
13428 Maxella Avenue, #273,
Marina del Rey, CA 90292.
Tel: 310-398-0375
extropy@extropy.org
Rates as of 6/25/96
SUBSCRIPTION RATES for a year/three issues:
USA: $13 ($25 institutions) for 3 issues; $21 for 5 issues
Canada and Mexico: $17 for 3 issues; $27 for 5 issues
Overseas Air: $23 ($37) Overseas surface: $17 ($28)
BACK ISSUES: #1-16: $7.
...in other Extropy Institute forums, such as the Exponent newsletter, the
EXTRO conferences, local meetings, seminars, and so on.
You can join Extropy Institute for:
USA: $40
Canada/Mexico: $45
Overseas: $50 surface; $62 air
Sustaining Member: $100
Benefactor: $300
Sponsor: $1000
Students with ID can subtract $5
...and in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list.
For more information about Extropy Institute activities (magazine,
newsletter, Website, conferences, seminars, etc.) contact:
exi-info@extropy.org
As List member Hal Finney wrote:
"Extropianism is a philosophy of life. Max More, editor of Extropy,
has identified five Extropian principles:
- Boundless Expansion
- Self Transformation
- Dynamic Optimism
- Intelligent Technology
- Spontaneous Order
"You can see that the basic point is a belief that the
future will allow virtually unlimited expansion in the possibilities
for our own personal lives. Extropians reject limits imposed by
outsiders on what we can do and what we can become. We embrace the
future, with all of its awe-inspiring possibilities.
"The role of [these] books is to show that these aren't just idle
musings and hopes, but are well-grounded expectations about what we
are going to have to work with in the next century. Without having
read those books, such common-place Extropian ideas as immortality or
a world without governments might seem absurd.
"If you haven't read these books but want to ask questions about these
and other Extropian ideas, the problem is that the answer is usually
going to be, first read the book. You can't answer a question about
the possibility for immortality in a page or two, not in any kind of
convincing way.
"Now, after you've read some of these books, you still may not agree
that all of these ideas are practical, but at least you can discuss
them on common ground with other list members. That kind of
discussion is practical, helpful, and informative. Extropians are not
dogmatists. If there are practical problems standing in the way of
the realization of their hopes and ideals, we should be discussing
them now, so that solutions can be found.
"Of course, some people will be opposed to Extropian ideas not because
they seem impractical, but because they seem immoral. Re-read the list
of Extropian principles above. If you don't agree with them, if you
don't agree that we should attempt to break through all the limits
that constrain us today, then you probably won't benefit from
discussion with Extropians.
"The Extropian list is not meant to proselytize, to gain converts.
Most people either find the ideas instinctively attractive, or they
find them abhorrent. It's a waste of everyone's time to come on the
list and to argue that governments are really good for us and that
death is desirable. Those are the kinds of messages that lead to
serious flaming, and no one benefits from them.
"To sum up, the Extropians lists welcome members who share an interest
in the exciting, optimistic, future-oriented philosophy of
Extropianism. If you're new to these ideas, they can offer
suggestions to help you find books, authors, and other resources to
learn more about what we can and will become. If you're more
experienced, they offer discussion and feedback with a high level of
quality and responsiveness. The future is coming, and the Extropian
lists offer you a chance to get ready for the fantastic opportunities
that await us all."
End quote. Enjoy the List.
David McFadzean
Manager of the Extropian Mailing List
and
Max More
President, Extropy Institute
>>>> end
END OF COMMANDS
-- David McFadzean david@ideosphere.com Memetic Engineer http://www.ideosphere.com/~david/ Ideosphere Inc. http://www.ideosphere.com