[ExI] extropy-chat Digest, Vol 124, Issue 14

[William Flynn Wallace]

Easy.  The way to get people to change is the same as the way to get
pigeons or rats to change - gradually.  First used (in a systematic way) by
Skinner, what we call successive approximations starts by getting people to
accept a very small change (or even one they are not aware of, such as some
genetic changes in their food - adding fish genes to strawberries to
improve their resistance to chill), and then another small change, etc.

Even progressives will balk at sudden big changes, like changing human DNA
or cloning.

So, we sneak up on it, like the truly awful pun:

How do you catch a rabbit?
Unique up on it.

bill wallace


On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 9:18 AM, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 4:00 AM,  Eric Messick <
>> eric at m056832107.syzygy.com>
>>
>> > Keith was lamenting the lack of support for space based solar power.
>>
>> That's correct, though it isn't just about SBSP, it's a lack of
>> support, even interest, in technical solution to get us out of the fix
>> of energy, carbon, climate, etc.
>>
>> > He was looking for an explanation of the hostility he sometimes sees
>> > to what looks to me like an obviously good idea.  How, he asks, did we
>> > evolve into creatures with such reactions?
>>
>> Or if it isn't a direct result of evolution, how did we come by a set
>> of such memes of hopelessness? How do we shake them off? Why hostility
>> to good news? My personal observation of this dates back to shortly
>> after the L5 Society was founded, at a Limits to Growth conference we
>> were nearly through out of for proposing that a solution existed.
>>
>
> I believe part of the problem goes back to an incorrect meme that pure
> capitalism can't do large projects without government socialism doing the
> heavy lifting. Combine this with the view that the current government is
> unable to do anything useful, and you have the reason for the noted
> depression.
>
> This problem will be solved when and only when a capitalist with enough
> money, or enough gumption to go out and get enough money, sees the dollars
> in it.
>
> Perhaps when Brent is a Bitcoin billionaire, he'll fund it. ;-)
>
>
>> I would be satisfied with a more widespread attitude that we should
>> fix or at least be actively looking for fixes to problems.
>>
>
> That's what capitalism is all about, do you think the capitalists have
> their thumbs up their asses?
>
> -Kelly
>
>
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