[extropy-chat] transhumanism=doomsday cult b.s?

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

Hi Kevin,
note that you frames these statements with negative wording, but each
one can also be worded positively. Example (same order - I just
filtered out the noise):

A movement of free thinkers.
A realistic option for an afterlife, compatible with scientific knowledge.
Calling the world's attention on potential risks.
Options to improve our bodies and minds.
Transcendence enabled by science and technology.
Desire for a better world.
Taking the best ideas on the future seriously.

Yes - all these things are elements of transhumanism.

G.

On 1/31/07, kevin.osborne <kevin.osborne at gmail.com> wrote:
> tell me if I'm wrong but:
>
> - is transhumanism just another refuge for norm-rejecting
> fringe-dwellers seeking yet another hippie/indie/alternative refuge
> from their non-conformity?
> - is it just another 'salvation' cult for ex-fundamental religious
> nutjobs who've found that atheism, too, might provide them with
> eternal life in the kingdom of (upload-)heaven?
> - is all the 'existential risk' and 'friendly a.i' gibbering just yet
> another doomsday cult squealing 'the end is nigh!' in their wearable
> billboards?
> - is the brain-mod and bod-mod culture just yet another terminus for
> the neurotic masses who buy 'self-help' and 'lose body fat!'
> be-someone-better books?
> - are we all being seduced by the new 'second coming' a.k.a 'the
> singularity' where all the true believers will be saved and transcend
> to eden?
> - in a sub-culture that on the surface espouses rationalism, are we in
> fact in danger of blindly drinking the fanboy kool-aid of a fantasy
> future that may in fact be far beyond our means as a collective?
> - are we simply feeding the coffers of 'faction' SF-writers and
> providing unwarranted attention to run-of-the-mill nutjobs who just
> happen to sell future shock as their 'chicken little' axe-to-grind?
>
> feel free to go off like a firecracker, I'm clearly trolling. as a
> wannabe-sceptic with a history of gulliblity I'm trying to sound out
> some querulous(possibly pernicious) points that inquire as to the
> nudity of our little extropian emperor...
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