Re: The Value of Extremists

From: Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Date: Sat Mar 25 2000 - 10:54:10 MST


Cynthia wrote:
> > Just yesterday I talked with a very
> > smart colleague who did not want to hear about nanotech
> > because once years ago some idiot at a party cornered
> > him and blathered on and on about it with very
> > poorly conceived ideas and arguments.
>
>And I can't really respect anybody who automatically rejects ideas because
>they
>seem far out. That is why we need to have a libertarian political system that
>will allow people like me, to co-exist with people like that.

This person is a strong libertarian, and one of the smartest I know.
He was rejecting an idea based on the poverty of the arguments
offered in its favor, which seems a reasonable strategy to me.

Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323



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