Re: FAQ: Where are we?

Nick Bostrom (bostrom@ndirect.co.uk)
Sun, 26 Jul 1998 17:25:16 +0000

Kathryn Aegis wrote:

> I have missed a great deal of this discussion over the past week and would
> like to know "where we are at" -- in other words, what sections have not yet
> been addressed? Will anyone have the opportunity to read over and suggest
> revisions to sections that have already been written? There are possibly
> other persons who would like to contribute who are on vacation right now,
> particularly as we move into August, so I may not be the only person who
> would like to know this.

We have agreed about what the list of questions should be (modifications can still be made). The questions are divided into sections. I have been posting one section at a time and eliciting people's answer-suggestions. On some questions I have also provided my own answer-suggestions for people to comment on or improve. When the two remaining sections have been treated in this way, then it's time to write up. I've saved people's comments in a file so they can be used at this stage.

We haven't decided yet what the best way to write it up will be. One person does it all? A few person do it all together? A few persons each do a few answers? - Maybe the best way would be if perhaps four experienced transhumanists do it together in whatever way they think suitable?

When the first draft is completed, then it should be posted back to the list so people can make suggestions for what could be changed and improved.

Doug Baily has made the excellent suggestion that we complement the FAQ with a Transhumanist Profiles page on the WTA site (that anybody who want could copy), where prominent transhumanists explain their own perspective and views in a few paragraphs in a personal way. This would show the divesity of views in transhumanism and would allow people to say what they really think rather than just the inevitably somewhat watered-down quasi-consensus of the FAQ. But it is better not to start this until we have finished the FAQ.



Nick Bostrom
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method London School of Economics
n.bostrom@lse.ac.uk
http://www.hedweb.com/nickb