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At 12:40 AM 1/24/04 +0100, Anders wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Damien Broderick quoted Brian
Alexander:<br>
> It sometimes sounded as if they were<br>
> plotting a future world in which they could take revenge on
every<br>
> jock who ever made fun of the smart kids.<br><br>
This is true in my case. When I was mobbed in school, I decided to
change<br>
the world so that the kind of people who taunted me would be at the
bottom<br>
and have to learn the stuff they taunted me for learning. The irony
is<br>
that Bill Gates beat me to it.<br><br>
(And now I'm of course going around all bodhisattva-like with
forgiveness<br>
of them... not really :-)<br><br>
But isn't Alexander's description of the early extropians (sounds
very<br>
mid-90's) spot on, in terms of how we did look? These days
transhumanists<br>
are less flamboyant and a bit less prone to overstatements (with
some<br>
fortunate/unfortunate exceptions). Probably because we are getting<br>
mainstream. Yay! ;-)</blockquote><br>
Good point Anders. I think the important thing to realize is that
the early extropians were just that - early, meaning more radical and
reactionary. I suppose when I was in my 20s I was a bit out there
as well. I never identified with the early extropians, other than
loving their sense of flare and intelligence. There were very
smart, determined transhumanists. I admired it, but didn't fit in.
I was too much a transhumanist in its early sense, which also was too
much into the art of it all rather than the practicalities. I've
changed over the years too - just as transhumanism has changed and become
more mainstream.<br><br>
However, I attribute the mainstreaming of transhumanism to
"extropians" maturation and the sophistication of the
philosophy of extropy.<br><br>
I'd like to see all transhumanist organizations becoming more
"extropic" and promoting the philosophy of extropy because the
philosophy of extropy is the underlying ideal and critical thinking of
transhumanity.<br><br>
Now, if we can get WTA and other transhumanist organizations to become
more extropic - to promote the philosophy of extropy, we will have made
great strides. Transhumanism is a movement to be sure, but it is
the extropic aspect of transhumanity that sings brightest.<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Transhumanist with a suit and tie,
and proud of it.</blockquote><br>
Me too. <br><br>
Natasha<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>-- <br>
Anders Sandberg<br>
<a href="http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa" eudora="autourl">http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa</a><br>
<a href="http://www.aleph.se/andart/" eudora="autourl">http://www.aleph.se/andart/</a><br><br>
The sum of human knowledge sounds nice. But I want more.<br><br>
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</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font face="Viner Hand ITC" size=4 color="#000080">Natasha Vita-More</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF">
<dd><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/" eudora="autourl">http://www.natasha.cc</a><hr>
</font>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times">President, Extropy Institute <a href="http://www.extropy.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.extropy.org</a>
<dd>Founder, Transhumanist Arts & Culture <a href="http://www.transhumanist.biz/" eudora="autourl">http://www.transhumanist.biz</a></font>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><a href="http://www.transhuman.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.transhuman.org</a> </font>
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