Re: META: To my fellow Extropians

From: J Corbally (icorb@indigo.ie)
Date: Fri Apr 27 2001 - 16:15:22 MDT


>Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 13:44:06 -0400
>From: Brian Atkins <brian@posthuman.com>
>Subject: Re: META: To my fellow Extropians
>Jim Fehlinger wrote:
> >
> > Brian Atkins wrote:
> >
> > > To the apparently few actual Extropians (the capital "E" ones, you know
> > > who you are) left on this list, may I suggest we spend the next few
> weeks
> > > doing some serious schooling and "education" of the sizable crop of
> newbies,
> > > trolls, and gibbering incompetents who have made this list almost
> unusable?
> >
> > You know, not so very long ago (mere weeks, in fact), I would
> > have taken a blast like this very much to heart myself, checking
>This was not intended towards you or anyone else who makes relevant,
>actual-information-containing, interesting, etc. posts to this list.

But what objective definition can we apply to "relevant,
actual-information-containing interesting" posts? I'd probably be dubious
of most of my own posts here by my understanding of this. Although I've
been on the list for a reasonable while now , I still consider myself a
"newbie" in general.

> > Now I'm more inclined to shake my head at the crude attempt to use
> > this sort of generalized guilt as a tool of intimidation, rather than
> > some more entertaining and enlightening form of social control
> > (argument, anyone? wit? humor?).
>Unfortunately some people here if left to such "light touch" methods do
>not respond; rather they take it as an opening to push the envelope
>further and further. And they tend to end up drawing in other people
>with similar views. If left unchecked, this ends up turning the whole
>list into mediocrity. So sorry if someone had to finally say something
>loud enough to hear, but if it cleans things up a bit then mission
>accomplished.

Do we have specific examples of this happening? Perhaps it's obvious to
others on the list, but it evades me, thus far. What am I missing (or
doing wrong) here?

> >
> > I have never, in fact, called myself either an extropian or an
> > Extropian, and I think one of the great things about this list is
> > that it's not necessary for me to do so in order to post here. If I had
> > to sign something equivalent to the Thirty-Nine Articles in order to
> > participate here, I'd be gone.
>Right-o. I have no problem with non-extropians posting here- what I have
>a problem with is people who come here simply to insult us, attack us in
>a troll-like fashion (not interested in actual debate), or who simply
>have read so little of this list's past that they repeatedly rehash old
>old old issues while adding nothing new. I can't fully fault people on
>the last part since the list archives are hard to search currently.

Why are we complaining about people coming here to insult extropians? In
an open forum like this, they'll always be around. I'd have to say that
compared to, for example, the forums over at the Secular Web (perhaps not a
perfect comparison), we're pretty light on trolls here, and the ones we do
get generally stick around to back up their posts.

For the record, I'm one of the "lightweights" on this list. I'm not
involved in a scientific/research/engineering discipline, have only begun
to scratch the surface of philosophy, know pretty much diddly squat
regarding political, economic and social structuring/functioning, run for
cover at even reasonably involved mathematics, have not read one quarter as
much as I should on all these topics, and am likely guilty of many of the
"big paste, small response" mails that seem to irk so much here. I your
average Joe, the typical layman (apart from being Transhumanist). In all
seriousness (and not sympathy seeking) are we attempting to determine some
kind of "cut off" point for members here?

I'd just like to know which of the "newbies", "trolls", or "gibbering
incompetents" groups I'm (and perhaps some others who might be getting the
same impression) are being fitted into.

James...

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and
crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures
to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."
-Q, Star Trek:TNG episode 'Q Who'



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