RE: Transhumanism for Dummies'

From: matus (matus@matus1976.com)
Date: Wed Jul 23 2003 - 23:00:53 MDT

  • Next message: matus: "RE: The establishment of a Historical Database/Discussion"

    > >Excellent idea, and the first good thing I've heard on this
    > list in a
    > >long time. I would probably enjoy writing such a book. Hopefully you
    > >can get over your prejudice against the idea of me being
    > objective. If
    > >not, I hope somebody picks up the ball on this. Perhaps we need a
    > >competition: someone writes Transhumanism for Dummies and
    > someone else
    > >writes Transhumanism for Idiots. Whoever finishes first gets the ExI
    > >stamp of approval...
    >
    > Great Idea. Amara gave me the correct title for the Bug book
    > by John Muir,
    > so it would be translated to be something like this:
    >
    > "How to Keep Your Transhumanity Alive: A Step-by-step Manual
    > for the Complete Idiot."
    >
    > N
    >

    Natasha, I would vote for dropping the 'complete idiot' qualifier, its
    seems redundant, as the title includes 'step by step manual' It might
    also have some negative connotations to potential purchasers

    Even though I am a fan of 'idiot' and 'dummies' type books, its only
    because they formalized the 'excruciatingly gentle introduction' (to use
    Eliezer's term). Apparently before those books no one seemed to realize
    people might actually enjoy reading about complex topics if it is
    presented to them in an easy to understand form. The fact that so few
    people bother to try to present complex subjects in easier to understand
    manners is what keeps new people from getting interested in them.

    Michael



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jul 23 2003 - 22:35:29 MDT