From: hubert mania (humania@t-online.de)
Date: Sat Mar 29 2003 - 03:44:39 MST
Brett, I certainly appreciate your moderation attempt. But hey, you know,
there is a war going on and there are people here on this list who ardently
defend this criminal action. As long as there are US patriots on this list
who defend the law of the strongest and willingly accept the deaths of their
own soldiers and ten times as much Iraqui *casualties* I will choose any
ways and means to protest against this point of view. My resort to a common
visceral reaction was harmless and even POLITE in contrast to the disgusting
collateral damage our patriots here are willing to accept. I think I must
resort to a tougher language pretty soon.
Look what they (the patriots) made me do. Sorry for the inconvenience in
these times of war.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brett Paatsch" <paatschb@ocean.com.au>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:13 AM
Subject: Can we have a civilization please?
> Extropes,
>
> This list brings together thoughtful intelligent people from
> different parts of the world all of whom have some things
> in common. I don't know that everybody that posts
> here would chose to describe themselves as an extropian
> but I do suspect that most would find some resonance with
> the ExI Principles or with the discussions that normally take
> place here, otherwise why would they be here?R
>
> Personally I don't think that people who have an affinity with
> the Extropian Principles are going to see their aspirations
> fulfilled by looking to find an oasis from the realities of the
> wider world but similarly we here are for the most part not
> the prime instigators of the problems most of us see in that
> wider world either. Let's make our points, lets be critical
> of society, of policy and of our own ideas, but let's not forget
> that simply because we talk mostly about what we disagree
> about, there is a great deal that we do agree about.
>
> Let's say for argument sake that a particular future that
> crystallised is one where radical life extension does not arrive
> in time for this generation to be "immortalised" without a period
> of "dormancy" or "stasis". That instead intelligent technology is
> trawling through the records of conversations had on the internet
> with a view to deciding which folks should be "re-animated" first
> or even can be safely "re-animated" at all. In a time when the
> current circumstances of the world have moved on and all that
> that intelligence is looking for is the way we conducted ourselves
> in that time would the posts that we make now stand in our
> favour then?R
>
> It is one thing to imagine a beneficent future intelligence willing to
> give its predecessors a chance at further experience. Its quite
> another to imagine that that intelligence would want to re-
> activate every single vector of bigotry, small-mindedness and
> meanness.
>
> I am not saying that that is what is being evidenced on this list,
> or indeed other lists whose participants are finding themselves
> engaging on the issues of the day with more than the usual amount
> of emotion and vitriol. I am saying that what we say is going onto
> a record and we might do well to consider that.
>
> On this list we are networked in some ways into the realities of
> each other. Current circumstances being emotionally charged
> provide excellent opportunities to learn, to better understand and
> to look for solutions.
>
> Civilization is a bootstrapping process. Let's find ways to be part
> of the forward momentum and try not to be part of the drag.
>
> Regard,
> Brett Paatsch
>
> Ps: Now I really am off (not just the soapbox) but for the
> weekend.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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