[extropy-chat] The Undying

[Jef Allbright]

Rafal Smigrodzki wrote:
> There seem to be a few threads on the list that seemingly cannot die.
> One of them involves pointless (IMO) struggles over the 
> meaning of "rationality". This word has a reasonably clear 
> definition provided on wikipedia, although there is also a 
> Gordian knot of circular definitions scattered over other 
> sources. There is no need to invent a definition of this 
> common term, and if new but related referents need a name, 
> it's better to come up with a new word.
> 
> I know that since "rational" has strong positive emotional 
> and moral connotations (especially among us self-declared 
> rationalists), there is the temptation to redefine the term 
> so as to be able to claim the moral high ground but it only 
> sows confusion (irrationality, one might
> say) and makes for horribly boring threads.

Rafal, I agree with you that it gets old rehashing what we mean by
rationality.  Same goes for personal identity, free-will, morality and
X*.

But it's interesting to me that this problem of understanding runs so
deeply on a common thread tied to the meaning of self. 

And it's very interesting that we have yet to come to terms with this,
or agree widely that it's a problem, even as we claim to anticipate and
embrace radical technological change that clearly threatens to challenge
our practical understanding of these concepts.

There's a tendency for thinkers of above average intelligence to
discover and climb the mountain of libertarian philosophy nearly to its
peak and stand there in awe of the elegance of its structure and the
sharpness of its fine point. But fewer then move back down the
slope--not all the way down to the tepid waters of "ideal"
democracy--but partway down to the fog at the edge of chaos where Self
meets the adjacent possible, and novel structures branch anew.

Sorry to go all poetic on your shit, but there's a self-reinforcing
sterility to certain forms of rational thought, and it takes more than
logic to break out of that kind of rut.

- Jef

*X in the sequence above stands for an as yet unimplemented form of
collaborative social decision making based on a rational understanding
of the preceding items in the sequence.  See the thread?