From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Thu Jul 17 2003 - 20:37:15 MDT
Mike Lorrey wrote,
> Firstly, you founded Pro-Act to act as an activist
> organization, but you formed it only after *I* started
> getting positive response from members about my arguments for
> the need to counter the luddites. You snookered everybody,
> because you simply used Pro-Act to deflect attention and
> defuse my attempts to mobilize the extropian community,
> making people think that ExI was actually going to do
> something about the luddites. Since then, Pro-Act has been stillborn.
Mike, as a person whose name appears on the Pro-Act site and who heard
Natasha's idea before it went public, I can assure you that the it was
not created because of you. I think many people had similar reaction to
Luddites around the same time due to Luddite activities. With our
cross-pollination of ideas on the list, it is no wonder that many people
would have similar ideas. You can be proud that you responded to the
Luddite threat even before Pro-Act was announced. You are pro-active
and not merely following other people's ideas. But please don't assume
that Pro-Act was following your ideas or that it was done out of some
sort of malice. Unfortunately, I have seen too many of these types of
organizations and activities fail. I am pretty sure that you cannot
blame lack of interest in your projects on ExI. Instead, I fear the
real blame is that most transhumanists are too busy or apathetic to do
much more than read an e-mail list. Even with the best of intentions,
organizations have trouble getting paid members, funding, and enough
volunteer workers. Almost everybody in the transhumanist movement is
doing this part time after hours from their day jobs.
I agree with your frustrations in general if not with your specific
examples. I, too, have been ranting about my frustrations with the lack
of progress of transhumanism in general. It really does seem that what
we do is all talk and no action. I have been questioning how much
transhumanists are leading or supporting or causing change, and how much
we are merely a fan club watching the show. I applaud your work with
the free state project. I hope you can accomplish something with it.
As you know, there are many followers and few leaders. I predict that
you will continue to be frustrated at other people's apathy into the
future. You will probably work on many great projects that go nowhere
because other people didn't care enough. You will run into a lot of
people who want to join, discuss, and be part of something, but who have
little time, money or energy for real work. This is an unfortunate
state of humanity. I am beginning to think that human inertia will
prevent anything unusual or too radical from occurring.
As someone who also tends to get angry, produce long rants, and vent
steam at ExI or others every few years, I don't have a lot of advice for
you. I can merely say that I recognize exactly what you are saying. I
am still here, but I don't know why. I am still frustrated at a lack of
progress, but I don't know what else to do instead. I am still spending
most of my time in my own company and my own projects, and have little
energy or money left over to do much more. I am currently between
contracts and have been doing a lot of reorganization in my life, my
business, and my goals. My own projects and goals are becoming more
important to me and transhumanist goals are becoming less important to
me. Mind you, I still am working toward immortality, better computers,
future technology, and improving the state of the world. I just don't
see this happening through the various groups I joined over a decade
ago. Like you, if I want action, I'm going to have to do it myself. It
is a sad pattern that I have already noted in previous years. Those
people who are really doing things tend to get too busy and they drop
out of this list. This list seems to detract rather than add to
people's real accomplishments.
-- Harvey Newstrom, CISM, CISSP, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC Certified InfoSec Manager, Certified IS Security Pro, NSA-certified InfoSec Assessor, IBM-certified Security Consultant, SANS-cert GSEC <HarveyNewstrom.com> <Newstaff.com>
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