[extropy-chat] Faculty X

[Dirk Bruere]

Samantha Atkins wrote:

> Why do you believe that atheists consider themselves superior?  Many 
> don't in my experience.  Most i know of aren't the least interested in 

Just a few on this list, in that case.

> exploiting theists.    As long as we are concerned with who thinks 
> they are better than whom we are stuck in the same old monkey 
> shines.     Personally I don't want to "exploit" anyone.  I do want to 
> form enough of an integrating vision that we monkeys have a chance of 
> growing beyond the limits of our evolutionary programming.   That is a 
> pretty funny sort of exploitation.
>
Some people have experienced the mystical, and some haven't.
That's the point.
I consider those that haven't to be deficient in the same way a 
psychopath is deficient, and it really annoys me to hear them bleating 
on about 'irrationality' etc when they know fuck all of which they 
speak. It's like trying to explain to a blind man that colour is more 
than a brail readout of wavelength on a spectrometer.

And 'going beyond our evolutionary programming' sounds all well and good 
until we look at the 'irrational' value judgements attached to that 
statement. If we are advocating scrapping 'mystical experience' as 
deficient and irrational why don't we go the whole hog and get rid of 
conscience, love, empathy, emotion in general and other similarly 
irrational hangovers. In fact, why not call the new species 'Homo 
Superior' - aka the Nazi Superman. Or don't you think that will go down 
too well with the punters?

Maybe our resident militant atheists should think twice about sneering 
at those who are not like them and have a wider event horizon. The 
logical endpoint of that line of thought is particularly ugly and will 
certainly do Transhumanism no favours.

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org



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