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At 10:49 PM 6/8/04 -0700, starman2100@cableone.net wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Harvey repeatedly tried to get us
to disavow the Transhumanist FAQ because Natasha was annoyed it didn't in
her view <br>
give enough credit to Max and herself. Then she put up her own
"Transhumanist FAQ" which barely even mentions the WTA <br>
in passing. We repeatedly debated and voted down disavowing our
Transhumanist FAQ. </blockquote><br>
I really do not want to be part of this discussion personally, and
professional it is misplaced. However, since I have been brought
into it, I will respond specifically to mention of myself and not to any
other claims or statements. <br><br>
It's a long story and no one can attempt to put it down in a few
sentences by blaming someone(s) because when you have a FAQ and it is
rewritten over and over again, things gets confused, rewritten, deleted
from and added to. What I objected to many years ago and which took
many years to be heard was the lack of attention to FM-2030 and his hard
work and efforts in his visionary view of the "transhuman," not
using Max More's definition of transhumanism and writing about Max as a
college student rather than a PhD, etc., using the phrase
"libertarian" in describing ExI and
"extropians," not mentioning Transhumanist Art and its
statement, and generally making transhumanism a movement that started
with WTA, rather than back in the 1980s, which is the truth and should be
recognized because it is a fascinating story. <br><br>
There are several Transhumanist FAQs. In fact, I purchased the
domain "Transhumansitfaq" which I designed a while ago, I have
yet to put it up because I was hoping that all transhumanist
organizations could contribute to it so that it is a fullly realized
website. However, Alex Bokow started the Transhumanist FAQ and Anders
Sandberg has a Transhumanist FAQ, Transhumanist Arts & Culture has a
Transhumanist FAQ, etc. ExI's Transhumanist FAQ is another
Transhumanist FAQ. Since ExI's "Journal of Transhumanist
Thought" was the first use of "transhumanist," it seemed
plausible that ExI should have a "Transhumanist FAQ."
<br><br>
The Transhumanist FAQ that we did many years ago was on the transhuman
mailing list and Alex says it is "open" source as long as it is
credited (he has the information that he wants people to use.) The
authors of this FAQ were several to many. The FAQ stemmed, I
believe, from the Transhumanist Principles which are still on the web and
which Alex "Sasha' Chislenko put together from some of us to many of
us working on it.<br><br>
It was never the property of WTA. When Nick started WTA I think he
used these items and they were rewritten over the years. So, I
suppose it all boils down to Alex, Sasha, Anders and the rest of
us.<br><br>
Frankly, I don't care who has it or uses it. I just care that it be
authentic and reliable for the public. This cannot be realized if
there is anger and name calling because it tarnishes the very essence of
the two pieces of work - the FAQ and the Principles.<br><br>
That's pretty much it, other than we are working to have a
Trans-Cooperative "Colloquium" with all transhumanist
organizations and groups to try to resolve the conflicts and develop a
better way of working together. <br><br>
I am concerned that James wants to disassociate WTA's affiliation with
ExI. <br><br>
Take care,<br><br>
Natasha<br><br><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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