RE: [wta-talk] Creating transhumanist-friendly mainstream big media

From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Mon Jul 07 2003 - 15:50:35 MDT

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    I'm not on the wta-talk list, so you can forward this if you like:

    At 01:58 PM 7/7/03 -0400, Devon White wrote:

    > >Transhumanism and extropianism, to the average person, seem pretty
    > >weird. So long as that's the case, the media is going to cover them
    > >as oddities. So I don't think you can make major media
    > >transhumanism-friendly. You'd be better off trying to make
    > >transhumanism / extropianism more media-friendly.

    First, let's take the "ism" off of extropy.

    >I agree entirely. There's a lot of vocabulary and concepts that people
    >need to understand in order to grok the benefits that transhuman and
    >extropic thinking bring. In order to do that i think the benefits need to
    >be trumpeted first. There needs to be some PR for intelligence. Then the
    >interest in learning the facts will follow.
    >
    >To this end, i already have some media interests that are reaching a
    >fairly wide audience and have a multi-media network that is launching
    >nationally within the next two months.
    >
    >All of these channels are based on building towards a transhuman friendly
    >future. So, this list adn transhumanism in general has at least channel
    >that is only 1 degree of separation from reaching a new, bigger and more
    >"mainstream" audience.
    >
    >All that needs to happen in order to begin broadcasting transhuman ideas
    >is for you to submit them. I can get them in print in a newspaper (soon to
    >be newspapers) and online (soon to be in print) with a magazine.
    >Additionally there will be other mediums available in the near future.
    >
    >The point is: We want to promote the ideas that are being discussed on
    >this list. We want to promote the thinkers that are putting this
    >information out.
    >
    > >How would you do that?
    > >
    > >1) Get rid of jargony, science-fictiony words like "transhuman",
    > >"extropy", "singularity", and so on.

    Yes, "transhuman" is science-fictiony, but "extropy" is not. Extropy is
    more scientific sounding (due in part to "entropy") and as a philosophy, is
    a pretty darn good word.

    > >2) Increase focus on short-term issues, research goals, and
    > >possibilities.

    Agreed.

    > >3) Avoid making extreme, alarming, or incomprehensible pronouncements
    > >on the future.

    Agreed.

    > >4) Recruit respected, high-profile scientists to the organizations (or
    > >at least their periphery)

    Extropy Institute has been doing this for years, and we do need to add more.

    > >5) Align yourself with mainstream movements and organizations like the
    > >reproductive rights movement, patient organizations lobbying for stem
    > >cell research, and more mainstream think tanks.

    Agreed.

    Natasha

    Natasha Vita-More
    http://www.natasha.cc
    ----------
    President, Extropy Institute
    http://www.extropy.org



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