[extropy-chat] Extropy, Political Viewpoint and the Futureof ExI's List

[Brett Paatsch]

Natasha wrote:
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Natasha Vita-More 
  To: ExI chat list 
  Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 10:15 PM
  Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Extropy, Political Viewpoint and the Futureof ExI's List


  At 10:46 AM 10/9/2005, Brett wrote:


    Natasha wrote:

      Our Vice President, Greg Burch, said recently that ...we need a new

       political viewpoint -- one that far outreaches what we have known in

       the past - on that is more futuristic for a society that will find its place

       in the future and help others along into that future.  


    I'd like to hear more about these thoughts on the need for a new political
    viewpoint.

  These are my words, not Greg's.  Greg said:  "our vision is beyond transhumanism."  I said we need a viewpoint hat "far outreaches what we have known in  the past - on that is more futuristic for a society that will find its place  in the future and help others along into that future. " in regards to extropy and politics. 

Sorry. I knew I'd trimmed your text but I thought I'd preserved who said what. I didn't mean to misrepresent you. 

I'd encourage you, Greg, (also Max) to write your thoughts on politics and transhumanism down and to circulate them at least amongst your friends as drafts so that you can get the benefits of feedback and synergies. But the topic IS hard.  Waiting to get it perfectly right might amount to risking that you'd die with good contributions unmade. 

I don't know Greg well enough to know whether I'd agree with his views ultimately (I suspect I'd disagree with some of them at least intially, I'm thinking of a post of Greg's that distinguish Nanny states as unsavvory with Daddy states that might be necessary medicine for what ails us for a bit) but I think they'd be *interesting* at least. I remember Anders praising an essay Greg had written on game theory, and Greg saying he'd like someday to have the time to develop those ideas. What tentative forays that Max has made into the area of talking about politics (that I know about) I think he has done well. So far as I know Max coined the term "monkey politics" this is a phrase that has stuck in my mind as the most apt description of how I feel the contemporay world practices politics.  I *feel* like I'm watching monkey's setting policy against their own best interests all the time. 

With respect to yourself, I'm a bit like Dirk, I don't understand exactly how you see politics. I get that you are not partly political and that you do not want to see the
world through a prism that renders all human behaviour political but I don't really understand the ambit of what it is that you are discussing when you talk about politics.
I don't get the sense with you that you and I map politics to the same referent. I like your values. I trust your decency, so I'm confident that your efforts will be in directions that I'd approve of. But I don't understand your take on politics. 

I'm rambling, so I'll stop.

Brett Paatsch




 










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