[extropy-chat] Fighting mad! (was transhumanist nut jobs & transhumanism going extinct)

Joseph Bloch transhumanist at goldenfuture.net
Mon Jul 17 22:15:38 UTC 2006


I have forwarded this to the WTA Board of Directors, will keep you 
posted if anything comes of it.

Joseph Bloch

Director, World Transhumanist Association
President, Center for Human Enhancement

The Avantguardian wrote:

>--- spike <spike66 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/posts.html?pg=4
>
>They called us nutjobs. 
>
>  
>
>>>bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Samantha
>>>      
>>>
>>Atkins
>>    
>>
>>>Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] transhumanist nut jobs
>>>
>>>Using such a phrase is not a compliment.   It
>>>      
>>>
>>implies we are
>>    
>>
>>>generally nuts but now and then may be onto
>>>      
>>>
>>something.  It should be
>>    
>>
>>>objected to.
>>>
>>>- s
>>>      
>>>
>>>From the general tone of the article, it didn't
>>feel to me like an
>>intentional jab, or rather I didn't feel insulted. 
>>Of course, I seldom do,
>>even if an insult is the intended, so perhaps I am
>>not the right one to ask.
>>
>>
>>Recommend we laugh it off.
>>    
>>
>
>Again? How many times are we going to turn the other
>cheek while the media insults us left and right. I
>have had enough, it is time for an object lesson. I
>recommend we play tit for tat and retaliate. Not with
>some whiny little letter to the editor, however.
>
>No, I recommend we sue Wired for LIBEL. The transhuman
>orgs could use some cash and Wired Magazine has deep
>pockets. They printed a very negative portrayal about
>transhumanists as a whole in widely distributed
>magazine. This potrayal is simply not true and they
>knew it. Such is called defamation in print or libel.
>It is a tort and suable in court. 
>
>I spoke to my attorney about it this morning. He said
>he would need to read the context in which it occurred
>but it sounded as if there are grounds for a lawsuit.
>
>However, I do not serve in any offical capacity on the
>board of any transhuman org so while I may be fighting
>mad, it's not my fight. My recommendation is somebody
>on the WTA BOD sue them. It will be easier to explain
>to the judge why an officer from an organization that
>has "transhumanist" in its offical title would be
>offended at the remark "transhumanist nutjobs".
>
>Not-for-profits can sue and be sued just like any
>other corporation. Rather than worrying about all the
>bad press we have been getting lately, I say we start
>hitting back. Let the media know they won't be able to
>take cheap shots at us with impunity. Instead of
>wallowing in self-pity at our impending extinction, I
>suggest we mobilize. If we transhumanists don't start
>standing up for ourselves, nobody else will!
>
>Justice De Thezier claims that transhumanism "is not
>above politics". If that is the case then it is time
>for the WTA BOD to get down in the mud and start
>wrestling with the pigs because that is what politics
>entails.
>
>
>
>
>
>Stuart LaForge
>alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu
>
>"God doesn't play dice with the universe." - Albert Einstein
>
>"Einstein, don't tell God what to do." - Neils Bohr
>
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>  
>




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