[ExI] Dealing with transhumanism bashing

[Alan Grimes]

=\

Yes, Alex has some problems understanding some transhumanist concepts 
however, I think his recent coverage (in the past few weeks) of 
Kurzweil's ideas to be dead on accurate. =(

Why am I the ONLY person who always gets upset when people spew garbage 
about how the entire universe will be converted to computronium, by 
human intention, and that everyone will be uploaded by means of 
destructive scanning, and, especially, that there is something *GOOD* 
about that future...

I mean, why can't we have a discussion about how what criteria we will 
use to determine which limited parts of the universe will be used for 
computronium and which we will use for other purposes?

Why can't we have a discussion about how to preserve humanoid life as an 
available choice?

I've spent the last few months trolling for information about what good 
things will happen to an upload, once it is duly scanned and simulated. 
I have not gotten a good answer yet.

What I found is that most of the websites of the people I know to be 
hard-core uploaders have been, um, *sanitized*. If you read their 
rantings, they are still absolutely in favor of every available nucleon 
being re-purposed for "simulation", whatever the hell that word means... 
(What the hell kind of "simulation" actually substitutes for reality 
instead of being a crude model of it??) -- I'm looking at you, Anissimov!

Actually, my only real find came last week when I came across:
http://enthea.org/writing/reality-3-0-hypermediation-paradise-engineering/

Now how should I respond to this?

"Oh it's only fiction, just an idea..." ???

"How nice..." ????

Or, should I say:

"OMFG!!! Jeff Lutty actually intends to release the Nats, I've gotta 
stop him!!!"

Even H+ magazine recently spewed out
http://hplusmagazine.com/2013/06/17/clearing-up-misconceptions-about-mind-uploading/
where the alleged facts were hardly distinguishable from the alleged 
misconceptions. Furthermore an entirely implausible argument was made 
about how easy it will be to "modify" an upload. A moment's thought will 
see that any low level emulation of a mind will be extremely difficult 
to modify by virtue of it's extreme complexity. Furthermore, the types 
of modifications possible will be tightly constrained by the limitations 
of the software running the simulation, where in the physical world they 
are effectively unbounded.

What part of that vision is supposed to be appealing anyway? Lets say 
that everything this Paul Hughes character said was plausible, even 
where it's logically contradictory. (ie, if the normal state of being is 
a heavily medicated -- er, I mean mediated, self-delusion, then how is 
that compatible with the existence of a simulated star-wars universe 
where the beings would have to be forced to accept their provided 
perceptions as the one true reality in order for them to be at all 
interested with the problem the simulation provides them. Why would you 
want to sit there and watch all the natural wonders of the universe 
being obliterated by the expansion front? That would be a nightmare in 
itself!

Here's another good question. Transhumanism seems to have degenerated 
into discussing two things Uploading (not what life will be like after 
being uploaded, but the process of uploading itself and only that) and 
living long enough to be uploaded (cryonics, life extension etc...) Why 
can't we talk about how awesome it will be to be a nano-cyborg and what 
we need to do to push that type of technology forward? =\

Alex Jones is simply trying to invite more people to discuss this stuff 
because it really is important.


Natasha Vita-More wrote:
>
> Hi everyone!
>
> Have you read the recent writings by Alex Jones and his 
> transhumanism-bashing? If so, would you like to be a voice of reason 
> on his ridiculous articles? (And another one which is far-fetched).
>
> http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/maddow-right-wing-mainstreaming-alex-jones- 
> (Rachel Maddow suggests Alex Jones is gaining momentum).
>
> http://www.infowars.com/new-matt-damon-movie-reveals-mankinds-transhumanist-destiny/ 
> (Alex Jones’ site).
>
> http://www.naturalnews.com/040859_Skynet_quantum_computing_D-Wave_Systems.html 
> (by Mike Adams which like reading National Enquirer).
>

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