[extropy-chat] POLL: Principles of Extropy

[Simon Dawson]

and there are a lot of people on the list who -aren't- from America,
and therefore aren't particularly fussed about the minute details
of the election.. or, more specifically, have heard more than enough 
about the politics from other sources.

if we wanted to be on a US politics mailing list, we would be. We're
interested in extropy/ians, which is why we're here.

I think Hal is right.

Simon

At 08:29 12/10/2004, you wrote:
>Ah, the litmus test begins. Somebody hand out the snipe bags, the snark
>guns, and the bottles of Chlorine 37, weez gonna hunt us a boojum
>tonight. At least one person has decided that purveyors of
>uncomfortable truths, while not explicitly violating Godwins Law, need
>to be swept out of sight via public caning with rolled up copies of the
>Extropy Principles (Policially Correct Version 3.x, of course). Nothing
>like a witch hunt before an election to get the blood flowing.
>
>--- Hal Finney <hal at finney.org> wrote:
>
>> We have a lot of political posts here, which in my opinion are
>> useless
>> and off topic. There are any number of places on the net to debate
>> traditional politics: liberal vs conservative, left wing vs right,
>> moderate vs extreme. If we have to debate politics, we should try to
>> tie the issues back to something specific to this mailing list.
>> 
>> Along these lines I thought it might be useful to have a little
>> refresher
>> on what we are about. Extropianism has gone through considerable
>> change in the past few years. The very words have changed:
>> extropianism
>> and extropians are out; extropy and transhumanism are in. We used to
>> communicate via the extropians list; it is now extropy-chat. What
>> used
>> to be called the Extropian Principles are now the Principles of
>> Extropy.
>> I'm not sure what word to use any more to address subscribers to this
>> list.
>> 
>> However much has stayed the same, and the new Principles of Extropy
>> look
>> pretty familiar, from <http://www.extropy.org/principles.htm> (where
>> longer
>> discussions of each one are available too):
>> 
>> : The Principles of Extropy in Brief
>> :
>> : Perpetual Progress
>> :
>> : Extropy means seeking more intelligence, wisdom, and effectiveness,
>> : an open-ended lifespan, and the removal of political, cultural,
>> : biological, and psychological limits to continuing development.
>> : Perpetually overcoming constraints on our progress and
>> possibilities
>> : as individuals, as organizations, and as a species. Growing in
>> healthy
>> : directions without bound.
>> :
>> : Self-Transformation
>> :
>> : Extropy means affirming continual ethical, intellectual, and
>> : physical self-improvement, through critical and creative thinking,
>> : perpetual learning, personal responsibility, proactivity, and
>> : experimentation. Using technology - in the widest sense to seek
>> : physiological and neurological augmentation along with emotional
>> and
>> : psychological refinement.
>> :
>> : Practical Optimism
>> :
>> : Extropy means fueling action with positive expectations -
>> individuals
>> : and organizations being tirelessly proactive. Adopting a rational,
>> : action-based optimism or "proaction", in place of both blind faith
>> and
>> : stagnant pessimism.
>> :
>> : Intelligent Technology
>> :
>> : Extropy means designing and managing technologies not as ends in
>> : themselves but as effective means for improving life. Applying
>> science
>> : and technology creatively and courageously to transcend "natural"
>> : but harmful, confining qualities derived from our biological
>> heritage,
>> : culture, and environment.
>> :
>> : Open Society
>> :
>> : Extropy means supporting social orders that foster freedom of
>> : communication, freedom of action, experimentation, innovation,
>> : questioning, and learning. Opposing authoritarian social control
>> and
>> : unnecessary hierarchy and favoring the rule of law and
>> decentralization
>> : of power and responsibility. Preferring bargaining over battling,
>> : exchange over extortion, and communication over compulsion.
>> Openness
>> : to improvement rather than a static utopia. Extropia
>> ("ever-receding
>> : stretch goals for society") over utopia ("no place").
>> :
>> : Self-Direction
>> :
>> : Extropy means valuing independent thinking, individual freedom,
>> personal
>> : responsibility, self-direction, self-respect, and a parallel
>> respect
>> : for others.
>> :
>> : Rational Thinking
>> :
>> : Extropy means favoring reason over blind faith and questioning over
>> : dogma. It means understanding, experimenting, learning,
>> challenging,
>> : and innovating rather than clinging to beliefs.
>> 
>> 
>> In order to get people to think about these principles a bit, I
>> thought it might be fun to take a poll.  Try to rank the 7 Principles
>> of Extropy in order of how much you agree with them and how important
>> you think they are.  Those that are, or could be, an important part
>> of
>> your personal philosophy you would rank high.  Others that you agree
>> with but seem like rather obvious platitudes could be ranked lower.
>> Any that you think are questionable or harmful would come last.
>> 
>> To get the ball rolling I will put them in order for me:
>> 
>> 1. Rational Thinking
>> 2. Self-Direction
>> 3. Open Society
>> 4. Intelligent Technology
>> 5. Self Transformation
>> 6. Perpetual Progress
>> 7. Practical Optimism
>> 
>> For a brief discussion, rational thinking is very important to me as
>> a
>> basic method for dealing with life.  Self direction and open society
>> are consistent with my individualistic political philosophy.  I am
>> always interested in new technologies and their possible future uses.
>> Self transformation and perpetual progress are more long term goals
>> as
>> we develop new technologies.  Likewise practical optimism is a useful
>> guideline but doesn't come into play much on a day to day basis.
>> 
>> If enough people are interested we could try combining our results
>> into
>> an overall ranking of the Principles.
>> 
>> Hal
>> _______________________________________________
>> extropy-chat mailing list
>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
>> 
>
>
>=====
>Mike Lorrey
>Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
>"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
>It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
>                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
>Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism
>
>
>                
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