RE: Identity Crises (was) Re: Where do cool people go

From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Apr 21 2000 - 13:18:28 MDT


>From: James Rogers <jamesr@best.com>
>
>This is a very interesting pattern, because I know other people who also
>fit in the same kind of pigeon holes. I think each of these pigeon holes
>are strong manifestations of specific characteristics:
>
>1) There seems to be a surprising number of ex-military people on this
>list (I am ex-Army -- light infantry), and a fair number of rugged,
>gun-toting, outdoorsy types. I would attribute this to strong principles
>of self-reliance. Still, at first glance I wouldn't expect as many
>ex-military people to be here as there are.
>
>2) Computer/techno nerd describes most everyone on the list and is
>probably the single most common factor.
>
>3) Extropians seem to tend to be health nuts. There aren't as many "body
>nazis" as I would expect (too many engineers? :^), but health issues are
>obviously very important to most people here.
>
>4) From my own experience, I would hazard a guess that people tend to be
>excellence seekers at a level that exceeds that of the general population.
>Maybe extropians just have good taste, but I would guess that it is
>derived from a desire to push life to the next level (whatever that means).

Well I think it goes without saying that extropians love life. Personally I
would like to make it to the singularity and then go on living for thousands
(millions?) of years. I don't think I'd ever get tired of the fantastic
voyage that is life. My guess is that this is probably the one sentiment
that *everyone* on this list shares. Which, when you think about it,
naturally leads to the various inter-genre "pigeon holes" that have been
talked about in this thread. Someone (Ben Franklin?) once said: "Do you
love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

For me, always hoping for the best but preparing for the worst I guess, I
hope that I'll make it to the singularity, but I live my life now as if I
won't. Meaning that I try to fit in as much living into my life as
possible. Every free moment is spent seeking out new ideas, new
experiences, new relationships, new outlooks and worldviews. The interests,
activities, hobbies, lifestyles, musical genres etc. I have enjoyed over the
years could fill several multi-page posts. So I won't even bother going
into it, except to say, for example, if you named a genre or style of music
chances are I'd be able to tell you about my favorite song, artist or album
in that genre (unless of course you get too obscure, like traditional
Siamese or something).

For another example, from my posts to date, I think its fairly clear that I
lean toward the "liberal" pole. I favor things like gun control and efforts
to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged in society. But I do own a
couple of guns and I am proficient in their use. I also own a fairly
successful business and have never yet obtained any sort of welfare or
public assistance. Perhaps that seems contradictory, but I've spent my life
always trying to see both sides of any given issue.

Bottom line is I think it comes down to the fact that the reason we want to
live forever is that we realize there is a *lot* left to life that we have
not experienced and cannot possibly experience in a mere hundred years or
so. So I can't claim any particular pigeon holes. My pigeon hole would
have to be the set of all pigeon holes (although admittedly I haven't gotten
around to even a small fraction of them yet, but I'm working on it).

-Zero

"I like dreams of the future better than the history of the past"
--Thomas Jefferson

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:09:40 MDT