"Anders Sandberg" <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote on Saturday, April 22, 2000 6:47
AM,
> "Steve" <steve@multisell.com> writes:
>
> > The so-called 'radical' transhumanism is no longer radically futurist -
it
> > is just a philosophical wing of big business and the political
mainstream.
>
> This is an interesting accusation.
I think accusation may be a strong word. I do agree with Steve that a lot
of the "futuristic" stuff we discuss around here is old hat. I have been on
the Internet for decades. Only Microsoft users think the Internet was
invented in the 90's by Bill Gates. My old Apple IIe had a voice
synthesizer and a voice input command interface (from Beagle Bros.?) back in
the '70s. I was programming my home computers from Apple, Radio Shack,
Commodore, Atari, etc. a decade before IBM "invented" the PC. In college, I
studying biochemistry, which included gene sequencing and cloning
techniques. The idea of robotics and uploading was actually being discussed
back in the '70 by real engineering students. In science fiction, it was
old hat and very common to read about.
I don't want to belittle the progress we have made. Things are definitely
advancing. But I do get tired of hearing how "ultra-modern" we are. When I
was a kid, I assumed that I could get a job on the Moon or Mars by the time
I reached middle management. I assumed that with modern medicine, I would
live long enough to see the "Star Trek" era of the future. In many ways, we
aren't advancing as fast as we had predicted. Most new innovations are not
very original.
I know these ideas seem new and radical for many youngsters. But for a lot
of us old-timers, we are finally seeing the rest of the world catch up to
what we have been dreaming since before many list members were born. Now
that we are all dreaming similar dreams, how do we turn them into reality?
I don't want to wait another 40 years for people to start talking about
these "new" ideas and trying to turn them into reality.
-- Harvey Newstrom <http://HarveyNewstrom.com> Certified Consultant, Legal Hacker, Engineer, Research Scientist, Author.
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