Re: Sociopaths (was Re: Reforming Education)

Robert Owen (rowen@technologist.com)
Mon, 11 Oct 1999 14:25:30 -0400

Sayke@aol.com wrote:

> what? and waste all that valuable protein? ;)
>
> > ........................................................................it is
> > in his best interests to avoid the APPEARANCE of selfishness and that
> > displaying the respect you describe is the easiest way to induce the
> > cooperation of others.
>
> ... isnt this what we do any time we sit back, smile, and nod? "normal"
> people regularly put on layers and layers of emotional facades...

Sayke, since you have a lively sense of humor, I'm going to assume that some of your statements are ironical and provocative. The essential motive for my posts is a desire to engage in "networked cognition" for the analysis of difficult social issues. "Individualism Reconsidered" by David Reismann some years ago was an early effort to discover whether "self-determination" in the context of a densely interdependent social matrix, i.e. contemporary technological society, had any real meaning.

So think about this: is "Extropian Commune" an oxymoron?

For example, in the event of massively disruptive social sabotage by any current terrorist organization (and I am in a position to know that there is no workable firewall in place, that we are totally vulnerable to e.g. Anthrax agents and small plutonium-based ordinance), could Extropians organize small communes that required intense cooperation with an emphasis on group rather than self actualization? Is there any alternative here to a paramilitary model requiring the imposition of discipline when necessary?

Bob



Robert M. Owen
Director
The Orion Institute
57 W. Morgan Street
Brevard, NC 28712-3659 USA