At 08:46 PM 10/27/98 -0800, Max More wrote:
>
>Nick, I do think the Nazi history is sometimes a source of fear and
>resistance. When I spoke at a conference in Germany about integration of
>technology into the human being to enhance function, a German women stood
>up and strongly hinted that I was a Nazi. This will keep happening to us. I
>think it's important, when responding, to stress that we want these
>technologies to be available but we are utterly opposed to compelling
>anyone to use them. (That's an important reason for having the Open Society
>principle.) We may face more difficulties if the day comes when a group of
>transhumanists form who *do* want to force everyone to upgrade according to
>the groups plans.
IAN: In fact, it stands to reason that "socialist transhumanism" would be "compulsory transhumanism," because a socialist plan is government implemented and thus compulsory, and therefore the libertarian ethic is the definitionally anti-Nazi >H policy; and as such, the libertarian ethic is the only policy compatible with ethical transhumanism.
"The smallest minority on earth is the individual.
Those who deny individual rights cannot claim
to be defenders of minorities." Ayn Rand