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At 10:20 PM 5/3/2006, Hal wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I want to congratulate Natasha,
Max, and the rest of the Extropy<br>
Institute board for taking this difficult but proactive step rather
than<br>
letting ExI and its related concepts just fade away as happens with<br>
so many institutions. When the time has come to move on,
recognizing<br>
and accepting that fact is always difficult. But the world has
changed<br>
enormously since the 1980s when Max and Tom invented the idea of
Extropy,<br>
and even since the early 1990s when this mailing list was born in
its<br>
earlier incarnation. Ideas which at that time were considered
too<br>
outlandish even for science fiction are now debated regularly in the<br>
corridors of power and on the front pages of major newspapers and
other<br>
opinion leaders.<br><br>
My main concern during this time of transition is that the history<br>
of Extropy be preserved and not forgotten. Because of the
extreme<br>
unacceptability of transhumanist ideas in the early days (hard to
remember<br>
today), the original extropians mailing list had a policy of
quasi-secrecy<br>
with regard to list archives. As a result, much of that
free-wheeling<br>
discussion has been lost, an information exchange which many of us<br>
remember as among the most dynamic and engaging we have ever
encountered.<br><br>
It may never be possible to reconstruct and restore those lost
archives,<br>
but eventually the list policy changed, and we should make sure that<br>
what remains is not lost. Not only list archives, but the
working<br>
papers and other documents produced by ExI over the years, should
all<br>
be preserved for future study and reference. It's possible that
someday<br>
this material will be seen as representing the birth of ideas which
turn<br>
out to be key to the further development of humanity.<br><br>
Making data available for an indefinite period into the future will<br>
not happen automatically. It will take time and effort to make
the<br>
preparations, and funds will be needed as well. If there are things
I<br>
could do to help, I hope Natasha will feel free to ask, and I am
sure<br>
that most of the rest of us in the community feel the same
way.</blockquote><br>
Hal, I welcome your help, and the help of others, as we put together the
Library of Transhumanism, Extropy and the Future. Mitch Porter (in
Australia) was hired to work with us on this and he is making headway. It
will take a little time, but it is the plan and I believe a good
one. The list archives will be put together as we best can and
eventually make it into the Extropy book section "Best of the
List" which was David McFadzean's insightful suggestion a while
back.<br><br>
What we will need is a web programming to put Mitch's work on the library
into a format for the web. There will be other tasks in the near future
that we will need help on.<br><br>
Hal, you have been a supportive member and friend for a long time and I
hope our relationship continues into the future. Even though ExI is
closing down, the philosophy of Extropy shall live and evolve in ways
that only extropy can.<br><br>
My best to you,<br><br>
Natasha<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font size=2><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Natasha
</a><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Vita-More</a>
<dd>Cultural Strategist - Designer
<dd>President, <a href="http://www.extropy.org/">Extropy Institute</a>
<dd>Member, <a href="http://www.profuturists.com/">Association of
Professional Futurists</a>
<dd>Founder, <a href="http://www.transhumanist.biz/">Transhumanist Arts
& Culture</a> <br><br>
</font>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><i>If you draw a circle in the
sand and study only what's inside the circle, then that is a
closed-system perspective. If you study what is inside the circle and
everything outside the circle, then that is an open system perspective. -
</i>Buckminster Fuller<br>
<br><br></font>
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