[extropy-chat] Being Extropic [was: the wrong Spike]

[Robert J. Bradbury]

On Tue, 3 Feb 2004, Avatar Polymorph wrote:

I will not comment on the Mason "...2030 Spike..." it isn't worth the
time to either type comments or read them.

> However, where the antiSpike is correct is in relation to extinctions of
> other species. In this regard, those who do not believe in boosting
> animals or neo-Tiplerism ought at least to push for freezing species
> individuals and reproductive materials, in logic.

Now this statement is right on.  In humans we know that probably 50%
of the individuality (or extropic value) of an individual is genetic.
(I'm pulling this number in large part out of the air based on
discussions of genetic contributions to intelligence, genetic
contributions to aging, etc.)  In non-human species the extropic
component that is contained within the genes is likely to be
even higher.

The frozen preservation of the information content of unique species
is generally extremely inexpensive vis-a-vis the saving of even a single
human life (from AIDS, famine, war, etc.).  Given that environmental
predictions are for the elimination of millions of species over the
next 50 or so years I fail to see why there is not an extremely
active movement in support of the preservation of the information
content of species at risk within our community.

Thus there is a potential point of differentiation between extropic
organizations -- which seek the simple preservation of information
-- and transhumanist organizations -- which may assume that human
information may have greater inherent value.  I do not know -- I
simply point it out as a topic for discussion.

Robert