Re: CULTURE: Chicago Tribune on Futurists (Includes Extropians)

From: hibbert@netcom.com
Date: Tue Jan 02 2001 - 15:21:47 MST


>> > Samantha Atkins wrote:
>> > >>Yep. And the really great thing about that is, WE DELIVER!
>> >
>> > Randy Smith wrote:
>> > >How so?
>> >
>>
>> Through science and technolgy, through testable real-world
>> methodologies, we will produce much of what has been promised by
>> religious mystics in terms of abundance for all, immortality,
>> tremendous transcendence of many of the supposed limits of
>> humankind. We see ways to get to these things in real life and to
>> make them available to all in reality, rather than mysticisms
>> classic results claimed only for those who sufficiently develop
>> themselves and then mainly only internal where they cannot be
>> verified by others except by the same process.
>>
>> Many of the old dreams are much more than dreams now and claims of
>> the few now.
>>
>> - samantha

The long explanation is much better than the one liner. I'm glad I
waited before responding. I'd still say it's worth noticing that to
any sceptical observer, not sure who to believe, your first statement
wasn't any more believable than those of the religious mystics.

A one liner that might be more convincing to those who haven't already
decided to believ us might be along these lines:

> Like religious mystics, the Extropians meticulously plan for
> the day when technology will free us forever from the clutches
> of the earth, the body and death itself.

And best of all, we rely on no more than continued progress on
development paths currently being pursued!

Chris

--
Chris Hibbert       It is easy to turn an aquarium into fish soup, but
hibbert@netcom.com  not so easy to turn fish soup back into an aquarium.
                      -- Lech Walesa on reverting to a market economy.

http://discuss.foresight.org/~hibbert/home.html



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