> You've brought up a point that I was thinking about last night after
> posting my reply. Are we as transhumanists willing to accept, learn
> from or even value ambivalence regarding technological progress? Are
> we able to laugh at our own hubris and draw strength from that?
We have to! Without humor, we become just technophiliac fanatics. Being
able to joke about one's dearest beliefs is a sure sign that one still
retains a healthy distance to them.
> The humorous irony that suffuses most of Kraftwerk's compositions
> always brings a smile to my face, especially the song they wrote
> about the old-style pocket calculators that had musical tones
> attached to the number keys. Of course, my view is utterly biased,
> as I am madly crushed on Ralf+Florian+Fritz!
"When I press this special key, it plays a little melodi <cute sounds>" :-)
Many of their songs give a distinctly transhuman (if ironic) impression,
like "Home Computer" ("I program my home computer. Beam myself into the
future"), "Antenna" (as an information addict I really enjoy it),
"SpaceLab" and especially "The Man Machine" ("Man Machine, pseudo human
being. Man Machine, super human being")
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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
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