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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Natasha wrote:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>I just received Betterhuman's newsletter. I can't quite get a pulse
on this. I'm not sure if it is dissing extropy because it called it
"optimistic futurism" which is actually *inaccurate.* Extropy
transhumanist philosophy supports a *rational optimism,* as extropy is
the transhumanist organization that persistently encourages "critical
thinking." <BR><BR>What do you all think?<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.anarcho-transhumanism.com/"
eudora="autourl">http://www.anarcho-transhumanism.com/</A></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think the marketplace or meme-space of
transhumanism is maturing but not evenly and ExI is one of the institutions
in that space. The number of transhumanistically-inclined folk as a proportion
of the population does not seem to be greatly increasing, not relative to
the speed with which the technology to set up groups and
newsletters has become cheaper and easier. Transhumanism is not
mainstream and does not look likely to become mainstream. But the technology,
the internet, that</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>enables it continues. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Whenever a new entrant comes along, whenever
someone discovers they have a voice and want to say something, and the internet
gives them a medium, they discover there is competition for the attention of
limited numbers of people. So you get a sort of brand-"warring"
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>where the groups or brands try to differentiate
themselves to better gather the finite number of "supporters".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If a new group or a brand can encaptulate an
old in a definition (especially one that the old one professes or accepts)
then the new group or brand can fence in the old and claim the
transcension or the rest of the free range for themselves. This
is the problem with isms. The flip side of avoiding getting caught in an ism is
that if you don't stand for anything then you don't have much to offer others.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>None of this should be taken as my finding fault
with Anarcho-Transhumanism. Or ExI. Behind the brands are people with
ideas. But people with ideas usually want to do something besides just talk for
the sake of talking. They usually want to do something to improve the world.
Either the whole world or the world as they see it. So we get
politics, marketing and competition. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I haven't thought too deeply about this and I could
easily be wrong or missing something even more fundamental.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brett Paatsch</FONT></DIV>
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