[extropy-chat] Authenticity, extropy, libertarianism, and history

Damien Sullivan phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu
Wed Jul 13 22:15:27 UTC 2005


On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 01:03:12PM -0700, Jef Allbright wrote:

> >Thus, a Borg may be transhuman, but it is not extropic. Nor can
> >luddites be extropic.
> > 
> The Borg of Star Trek are anti-extropic because they are a caricature of 
> conformity, leading to stagnation.  [By the way, that is a good example 
> of why I say that extropy encompasses transhumanism, rather than the 
> other way around.]  However, there are theories of "hive-mind" which may 
> be very effective both at the subjective level of the individual cells 
> and at the higher level of the superorganism.

Has anyone else here read the books and stories of Alastair Reynolds?  I'm
thinking of the Conjoiners, whom he's allegedly described meant to be "cuddly
Borg".  And before I'd seen that, I'd noted that the physical descriptions of
them seemed pretty Borg-like.  Pale skin (I think), plain black clothes, no
wall decorations (because their implants provide enhanced reality, natch)
usually not speaking (see implants, allowing not just quiet talking but
seeing the thoughts and memories of others.)  They were cuddly because we saw
their internal viewpoint, but someone outside would see these silent no-decor
drones...

-xx- Damien X-) 



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