[extropy-chat] Re: themes in anti-transhumanist arguments

[Neil Halelamien]

On 7/4/05, Adrian Tymes <wingcat at pacbell.net> wrote:
> --- Neil Halelamien <neuronexmachina at gmail.com> wrote:
> > http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=154788&threshold=0&cid=12979847
> >
> > So how does one go about debating people like this? Is it even
> > possible? Are there any relevant points they make which we need to
> > keep in mind?
> 
> Read the responses to that comment.  (By date/timestamp, some of them
> apparently written after you posted the above.)  Yes, there will be
> individuals who spread misinformation and negative opinions about us.
> Get the facts out there enough, and the light of truth will start
> blasting away these shadows almost on its own.

Indeed.

On a related note, I think most of the anti-transhumanist arguments
I've come across have tended to follow one of the following themes:

1. Religion: Certain advanced technologies violate the will of God.
2. Environmentalism: Advanced technologies will increase humanity's
capability to ruin the environment. (I suspect most environmentalists
would object to turning the solar system's mass into a Dyson sphere)
3. Social justice: The rich, western world, and/or corporations will
get access to advanced technologies first, leading to greater economic
and social disparities.

Perhaps it would be useful to put together a resource (maybe a wiki?)
of arguments we often encounter, along with useful counter-arguments?
We of course don't want to end up being like certain
anarcho-syndicalists, with their never-ending verbatim quotation of
Chomsky talking-points, but having such a resource could still be
useful.

-- Neil