[extropy-chat] ANNOUNCE: Extropy Institute's Future

[Max More]

Thank you for your words, Hal.

As Natasha and Mitch have said, plans are afoot to preserve all the 
public material -- in fact to make it more available than ever before. 
As we work on this project, it would be very helpful to hear from List 
subscribers (especially you long-timers): which do you think are the 
best and most memorable discussions that have appeared on the List? 
Which discussions or individual posts should be included in any selection?

Once the bulk of the existing material is online and searchable, we 
would like to go further, using more advanced tools and perhaps making 
the Extropy Library a repository that continues to build.

Onward!

Max


Hal Finney wrote:
> I want to congratulate Natasha, Max, and the rest of the Extropy
> Institute board for taking this difficult but proactive step rather than
> letting ExI and its related concepts just fade away as happens with
> so many institutions.  When the time has come to move on, recognizing
> and accepting that fact is always difficult.  But the world has changed
> enormously since the 1980s when Max and Tom invented the idea of Extropy,
> and even since the early 1990s when this mailing list was born in its
> earlier incarnation.  Ideas which at that time were considered too
> outlandish even for science fiction are now debated regularly in the
> corridors of power and on the front pages of major newspapers and other
> opinion leaders.
>
> My main concern during this time of transition is that the history
> of Extropy be preserved and not forgotten.  Because of the extreme
> unacceptability of transhumanist ideas in the early days (hard to remember
> today), the original extropians mailing list had a policy of quasi-secrecy
> with regard to list archives.  As a result, much of that free-wheeling
> discussion has been lost, an information exchange which many of us
> remember as among the most dynamic and engaging we have ever encountered.
>
> It may never be possible to reconstruct and restore those lost archives,
> but eventually the list policy changed, and we should make sure that
> what remains is not lost.  Not only list archives, but the working
> papers and other documents produced by ExI over the years, should all
> be preserved for future study and reference.  It's possible that someday
> this material will be seen as representing the birth of ideas which turn
> out to be key to the further development of humanity.
>
> Making data available for an indefinite period into the future will
> not happen automatically.  It will take time and effort to make the
> preparations, and funds will be needed as well.  If there are things I
> could do to help, I hope Natasha will feel free to ask, and I am sure
> that most of the rest of us in the community feel the same way.
>
> Hal Finney
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