Re: The current definition of "extropy"

Eliezer Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:44:27 -0600


You know, don't take this the wrong way, but this "extropy" business
seems likely to degenerate into a cultish, self-righteous restatement of
goals that should be acheived by sober, dry, scientific thought.

How about if we just say that Extropy is "the belief that ridiculously
high technology is a good thing" instead of listing two hundred positive
attributes that have nothing whatsoever to do with Extropy?

> The current definition is" "Extropy -- the extent of a person's or a
> culture's intelligence, information, vitality, diversity, opportunity, and
> [personal] growth." "Personal" might be removed since it fits with person
> but not very well with culture.

Many intelligent people are not Extropians. Many well-informed people
are not Extropians. My vitality is as close to zero as a human can get
without falling over. There's only one of me. Many Extropians are
leading low-opportunity lives and the majority of high-opportunity
people are not Extropians, a double dissociation. Most people who are
exhibiting personal growth are going through life-defining experiences
that have nothing to do with a belief in high technology.

Certainly your list might make a fine "To-Do" list of things that
Extropians should do and might be good at, but as a *definition* I'd
have to say that it's a smugly self-righteous failure.

-- 
         sentience@pobox.com      Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
          http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/singularity.html
           http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/algernon.html
Disclaimer:  Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.