Re: Priorities

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Fri, 30 May 1997 18:25:06 +0200 (MET DST)


Carl Feynman writes:

> I suspect my job, though not directly aimed at making people more godlike,
> has a greater positive effect on the future of humanity than all my posting
> to this list. At least I'm making machines a little smarter and the economy
> a little more efficient.

I think this is a healthy view. Just because we interact with each
other and share grandiose dreams we are not getting closer to
implementing them. What we do here is more like sharing memes, ideas
and visions that we can use in real life. This list isn't the place
where the first steps to transhumanity will be taken, they will be
taken (or rather, have been taken a long while ago) in the soil of
the physical world - but we might be guided by what we learn here.

Personally I hope to play a role in bringing about many of these
visions by applying my intellect to certain research areas (such as
the neuroscience of memory), my skills of communications to convince
more people that transhumanism is a good (or at least acceptable)
idea and by practically trying to implement a transhuman life for
myself.

Of course, if anybody has any practical idea for a worldwide
transhumanist conspiracy, I might be interested. :-)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y