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

[Dirk Bruere]

On 10/10/05, Max More <max at maxmore.com> wrote:
>
> Is the philosophy of extropy a political ideology?
>
> Of course it isn't.
>
> Of course it is.
>
> The question isn't very helpful, being binary, demanding a yes-or-no
> answer.
>
> In so far as an "ideology" is defined simply as
> "a collection of ideas", then extropy is an
> ideology. (However, the term "ideology" is often
> used to imply something more than this­something more sinister.)
>
> To say that extropy is a *political* ideology
> stretches things a bit far. The Principles of
> Extropy include some fairly general advocacy of
> Open Society and Self-Direction. There is no
> "rules (blueprint) most appropriate to achieving
> the ideal arrangement", nor instructions on "How
> society should work (or be arranged.)" Nor does
> it "largely concerns itself with how to allocate
> power and to what ends it should be used." It is
> not "a construct of political thought, often
> defining political parties and their policy."
> (All quotes from Wikipedia on political ideology.)
>
> Saying that extropy is a *political* ideology is
> rather like saying that Hinduism is a manual on
> how to meditate. You *can* find that in there,
> but it's hardly a good characterization of the
> whole. The philosophy of extropy is clearly *not*
> a political ideology in the way that these are:
> Marxism, socialism, liberalism, communitarian,
> libertarianism, anarchism, social democracy,
> mercantilism, communism, and fascism.
>
> Max
>

Well, I will have to disagree with you there.
The reason it seems different (to some extent) with the ideologies listed
above is because it is wider and shallower than the above.
Nevertheless, it is of the same kind IMO.
Quantitatively different but not qualitatively so.
If I could be bothered top pursue it I might even suggest it is more akin to
a secular religious ideology rather than a political one. Possibly a type of
Utopianism.

Dirk
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