[extropy-chat] the Renaissance and Enlightenment all rolled into one

[Thomas]

Al Brooks wrote:

> [ . . . ]
> It seems this war will also continue until all possibilities have been 
> exhausted, unless we were all to change the way we think & act, like 
> the Renaissance and Enlightenment all rolled into one and then some. 
> The other day I was sitting at the Thanksgiving table thinking how 
> trapped in the past it was. Naturally there is a reason for it, 
> Thanksgiving is a tradition to link us with the past, to bring kin 
> together in a shared experience. Strange as it may sound, war is also 
> a 'tradition';  war, though is extremely ugly and wrenching, also 
> links us to the past. You are not going to deny we are in many ways 
> trapped in the past, are you.

Turning negative effects from the past into positive causes in the 
present by marshalling resources and taking personal responsibility -- 
isn't that extropian SOP?  I would add the Romantic movement to your 
"and then some" for a good dose of free will.