From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Fri Feb 14 2003 - 06:33:06 MST
Anders,
I'm not sure that I can add much to what you wrote. I agree with you.
>Since we often mimick what we experience, and much of our experience
>comes through the media there is a strong feedback loop where the
>journalists and other media producers also get caught in typical
>"working" narratives and make them more common.
It's almost a which-comes-first:-chicken-or-the-egg pictre, because
what we would like to see in the media are positive images; however
those reflect to some extent (in your feedback loop) the experiences
of the 'typical' person, whose actions are influenced by the media,
which reflects the experiences of .. and so on.
The only way I see how to break out of this feedback loop is not to
pay too much attention to the media at all, but to focus on the
individual: Support the individual positive images and
accomplishments, and hope that the media picks up those stories, or at
the least, something helpful or wonderful naturally emerges which we
can use to support the larger group. However, this what the various
transhuman groups are already doing, yes? (or no?)
If no, then encourage people to get back to that, the 'Basics', if you
will. Acting individually on positive-reinforcements instead of
fear-based-reinforcements is probably (and practically) more effective and
longer-lasting. However these positive stories don't get picked up by the
media often enough, but perhaps we shouldn't care overly much for how
the media portrays transhumans presently.
>What really got people pro-space in the tragedy was the mythical
>aspects - the disaster itself just got people to sit up and
>notice a myth that has been rather silent for a while (but now
>also fits in with the somewhat more 40's/50's narrative elsewhere
>in the media). Heroes dying on the way back to Ithaca in a great
>fireball. The promethean determination to dare dangers and the
>occasional punishment for hubris in order to rise up to the
>stars.
Yes... I have some text of how the mythic aspects of transhumanism is
important for it to succeed, here:
http://www.transhumanism.com/articles/2002/graps0202.php
One point of the above essay is that the positive 'stories' come not
externally imposed from the outside, but from the individual exploring
their internal life stories. Already existing mythic templates can
provide clues and aid you from other human's experiences. Future mythic
templates naturally emerge on their own if enough clear voices are heard
to forge a cohesive path in a particular set of transhuman life
experiences.
>
>Transhumanism can of course be clothed in the same mythical
>narrative, but the risk is that one looks more at the heroism
>than the practical results - it is a basically romantic notion
>looking more to ethos and pathos than logos.
True, but I sense that the world could use a few more positive images,
and a few more heroes could aid in that. How one responds to or uses
those positive images practically in one's own life is yet another issue.
Amara
-- ******************************************************************** Amara Graps, PhD email: amara@amara.com Computational Physics vita: ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/ ******************************************************************** "Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." -- H. G. Wells
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