Re: ECON: the abolition of work

J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Wed, 6 May 1998 10:24:11 -0700


From: den Otter <otter@globalxs.nl>
>The point is: if you don't plan to make life enjoyable (whatever that may mean to
>you) for yourself in the future, then what *do* you want?

I enjoy life right now, so I don't need to plan to make it so. Too many people, I think, discard the
present opportunity to enjoy life, by postponing happiness until some non-existant future. Of
course, if you enjoy making plans, go for it. As I see it, extropy has its own way of amplifying
human happiness to prompt the careful observer to embrace ever more complex adaptive systemsas they
may spontaneously emerge. In this respect, extropy paralells the concept of the life force itself,
as it evolves to higher levels of sentience.

Rather than plan for future happiness, I've decided to expand my own present appreciation for the
autonomous movement of extropian evolution. The extropian spike (Singularity) will, I extrapolate,
involve features for which I have no way of adequately or appropriately planning. We cannot, IMO,
make this thing happensince it involves incomprehensibly complex developmentsbut we *can* let it
happen. The extent to which we enjoy this singular occurence depends on the degree to which we allow
it to energize our consciousness.

As extropy (of the non-denominational kind) explodes in the next decade or two, I anticipate a
tremendous benefit to people who remain passively alert and attentive to the ultimate ramifications
of a new form of sentience overtaking this planet, this solar system, this galaxy, etc.
Nanotechnological engines of creation need engineers with the courage to say good-bye to their
dreams of future planningto let themselves undergo the transformation necessary to continue into
undreamed of potentialities. Such engineers will experience a psychological death. Until the old
mind (brain) dies, the transformed mind (brain) cannot emerge. I think of the present humanity as a
kind of "seed" that has to die (i.e., stop existing as a seed), so that it can sprout and grow. As
one thing leads to another, the process of extropy creates a new consciousness totally disconnected
from the old one. "Don't worry, be happy" sounds childish and naove to some folks, because they have
given themselves to grim competition and an infowar position. But that attitude renders them
short-lived and ill. I think an old astronomer summed it up in his epitath: "I cannot fear the
night, for I have loved the stars." I feel a sense of awe and wonder ought to attach to our
futurism, for no other reason than that we *enjoy* it.

Cheers,

J R