[extropy-chat] The Cassini Division

[Jef Allbright]

Dirk Bruere wrote:

> "Life is a process of breaking down and using other matter, and if 
> need be, other life. Therefore life is aggression and successful life 
> is successful aggression. Life is the scum of matter, and people are 
> the scum of life. There is nothing but matter, forces, space and time 
> which together make power. Nothing matters, except what matters to 
> you. Might makes right and power makes freedom. You are free to do 
> whatever is in your power and if you want to survive and thrive you 
> had better do whatever is in your interests. If your interests 
> conflict with those of others, let the others pit their power against 
> yours, everyone for themselves. If your interests coincide ith those 
> of others, let them work together with you, and against the rest. We 
> are what we eat, and we eat everything." - Ken Macleod, The Cassini 
> Division
>
This is a powerful statement of morality, correct in its emphasis on the 
intentional Self as sole authority on all matters of choice, but 
misleading in its emphasis on the solitary individual, "bloody in tooth 
and claw."  The real game has moved up a level, to a broader context 
where effective cooperation within groups provides the might which makes 
right and the power that makes freedom.

That quote certainly appeals to the rugged individualist in us though, 
doesn't it?

- Jef
http://www.jefallbright.net