Re: Dynamic Individual Freedom

Dr. Rich Artym (rartym@galacta.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 1 Sep 1996 21:53:57 +0100


I'm delurking here on one of my pet topics ... :-) Greetings to all!

In message <1.5.4.32.19960828131135.00667fe0X1@pop.dial.pipex.com>,
Sarah Marr summarizes well many of our statements on UIF, and adds:

> Perhaps this is another
> subtle difference from UIF: DIF doesn't place the same opprobrium on those
> who choose to allow others to restrict their freedom, because the dynamism
> overtly recognizes that that acceptance is transient, and hence DIF is never
> abbrogated.

Actually, I don't recall anyone suggesting such opprobrium in the context
of UIF, although UIF was left loosely defined on purpose. The UIF that
we carved out originally on the >H list certainly voiced no such value
judgement, and my own >IF doesn't do so either since acceptance without
agreement is the norm in the totally subjective view of the world in >I.

Although I don't see any opprobrium being expressed anywhere in the
UIF threads, even if it was, it wouldn't matter: only in a community
with jurisdictional controls does personal expression of opprobrium
turn into coercion. In a world where people have the means to defend
their individual freedom (such as in the nanotech scenarios, but there
are others as well), I doubt if opprobrium will be a significant player.

You're totally right to say that a dynamic IF can never be abbrogated,
but then that applies to all shades of IF, since they're all dynamic.

I think Natasha's assessment hits the mark in this area: these shades
of individual freedom are really all one and the same in their most
important aspects: they're all inherently dynamic, because all static
systems imply limits (usually jurisdictional) and none can support the
needs of self-transformation across an infinity of threads of individual
development in the transhuman diaspora. Indeed, that is why I *defined*
individual freedom to be dynamic --- nothing else meets the requirement.

Rich.

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