Re: Crocker's Rules vs. Love & Rocket Science

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Wed, 29 Sep 1999 11:42:59 -0700 (PDT)

> It's your insistance that we are somehow not capable of understanding
> your point that gets people pissed. The extropian list isn't a bunch
> of catholic Martha Stewart nuns, you know.

I never even implied anything of the sort, much less insisted. I think everyone here does understand the point. I think many still disagree, and that's fine too. I try to persuade others to my point of view because I believe it, and I believe that if more people shared it the world would be a better place to live. That's the whole point of having a point of view--any point of view.

> You ignore the good arguments for being civil and kind, and keep
> saying how good you are to have evolved way beyond us. (By now I've
> ascertained that you like to get reactions of this type anyway) and
> you seem to have forgotten that you are *posting* to
> Extopians@extropy.org,. so you're not talking to inferiors.

Again, I've done nothing of the sort. When this same argument came up the first time, there were those who put forth very good arguments for restraint--you and Eric among them. I acknowledged those, and continued to argue against them because I wasn't convinced. Don't make the same mistake you accuse me of by assuming I don't hear and understand the arguments on the other side.

I freely admit that I consider myself a superior philosopher to 99.9% of the human population, and probably 95% of the members of this list (who are a very bright bunch from whom I have learned much, because all of them are more talented than I in some field or other). I make no apologies for that opinion, but I also see no reason why anyone should be threatened by it. Arrogance is harmless folly; it is rigidity that gets in the way of learning and growing.

And finally, yes, I often enjoy angry reactions to my ideas, because that's a clue that I'm onto something important. Stuff nobody cares about just gets ignored (and I've posted plenty of that too).

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC