[ExI] Survival (was: elections again)

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 02/01/2008, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 02, 2008 at 03:13:01PM +1100, Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
>
> > > The future will be determined by what Mr. Jupiter Brain wants, not by what
> > > we want. Exactly what He (yes, I capitalized it)...
> >
> > I wish you wouldn't. It makes us sound like a kooky cult.
>
> The reality is that extinct species don't decide what happens today.
> The reality is that humanity makes other species extinct, not the
> other way round.
> The reality is that humanity is just an early evolutionary branch
> on the new tree of life that hasn't happened yet.
>
> Believing all that doesn't make me a kook, it makes me
> a transhumanist.

It was the religious overtones inherent in capitalising of the pronoun
"he" that I objected to. Transhumanism is not a religion and no
natural phenomenon should be worshipped as a god. For that matter, I
don't see why any supernatural phenomenon should be worshipped either,
except perhaps cynically if circumstances warrant it.



-- 
Stathis Papaioannou