And Tony Csoka asked, "do you feel that you derive enough happiness from life
by pursuing only these goals?"
Only these goals? *ONLY* these goals?! I don't see what's so *only* about
*everything*. I don't think you quite understand how *diverse* my goals and
my activities actually are. Let me just say that I plan to become among the
best of the best in a large number of different fields. I'm certainly not
going to neglect anything that will increase my happiness to levels far beyond
what the typical human ever dreams of. My own personal happiness is my only
real concern, and I am becoming quite expert at achieving it at higher and
higher levels. I think learning to excell at everything will be *a lot* of
fun and will bring me much happiness.
More realistically, Mr. Csoka goes on to ask, "You mentioned that you felt
that your family had as much importance as the bushes outside. What do you
think about the concept of the family itself, and how does it fit into
extropian thinking? On what level of importance do you rank love and
friendship in your envisioned future?"
Well, that was about four years ago, when my family lost all meaning to me.
Since then, I have come to know my siblings and my parents much better as
individuals, and I love them all very much. I think the concept of family is
wonderful; however I don't define 'family' in the traditional way, of having
the same immediate ancestors. To me, a family is a group of individuals,
working together in mutually supportive relationships to achieve their
individual and common goals. I think these types of relationships are
extrememly important for people to be in, if they are to excell in their
lives. Love and friendship are tremendously important to me, and I imagine
that they will become even more important as I continue my development. I
believe that excellence will be much easier to attain if I am working on it
along with others who are all helping each other to learn and grow.
- David Musick
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and
joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the
same roof." - Richard Bach, _Illusions_