I'm new to the list and it is the first contact I've had with
Extropians. The extropian meme infected my mind (boy did it feel good!)
by way of the Wired vector in 1994. Though I have just recently made
contact with other Extropians, the past two years (roughly) have seen a
steady rate of-- pardon me as I show of my new vocabulary word--
automorphing. The word is new to me but the act is not.
In those two years, I have expended huge amounts of energy and effort to
get from then to now (i'll spareyou the details, but it was a long way).
And though I'm with you in spirit, I've got lots to learn. I have a
formidable stack of books on philosophy, pop- scienc, not to mention a
box full of Discover and Scientific American (not that I see Extropians
as strictly science oriented). All this and I still don't know what the
hell you folks are talking about sometimes-- you are hard-core! I look
forward to the challenge of getting up to speed.
Extropians are in a state of high energy. While for us this is a
desirable state, it is still unfavorable, and the populace is not exempt
from the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The extropian meme has the
undesirable trait, in terms of its replicability, of requiring lots of
energy to actualize, to become Extropian. To expect that sugar coating
hard work will make it desirable to the masses seems to me iffy at best,
not to mention that sugar coating may distort, or even pervert extropian
philosophy.
I suggest serving transhuman memes a spoon full at a time, each building
on the last, as opposed to unleasing a media onslaught. We may find that
humans, like amphibians, will be more receptive to a gradual increase of
energy and not turn the frying pan on us.
I look forard to learning with/from you. / you.
Up, up, and Away!
Michael Bowling
mlbowli1@cord.iupui.edu