[ExI] kill thread

[Ben Zaiboc]

"spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> 
> OK thanks everyone, please stop forthwith any commentary
> titled Getting
> Laid.  I am killing that one, but posting this last
> one thru that was in the
> moderators box from Sockpuppet99 which looks to me like
> sound advice.
> 
> It is OK to post stuff about dating and lonely hearts to
> some extent, but I
> urge you do use judgment and decorum, and feel free to
> avoid the topic for
> now thanks.  For instance, if you have not had gender
> reassignment, refrain
> at every opportunity from making a running commentary on
> the topic.  Reason:
> there are those here who know, and we know who they are,
> and if you haven't
> been there, the expert ain't you.  In light of the
> fact that some offensive
> commentary has been posted recently, I suggest we veer off
> about a radian in
> a new direction, shall we?
> 
> Of course offlist discussions on the topic are always fair
> game, and to be
> encouraged.  Also it is often a good idea to filter
> some posters if they bug
> you, as opposed to answering everything, and especially
> answering anything
> in anger.
> 
> Play ball!

Fair enough, you're the boss.

Although I do hope this is killed because of the vitriol, not because of the actual topic (or my choice of subject line!). 

Alan mentioned that it may be off-topic for this list, but on reflection, I'd disagree.  Extropianism is about achieving and extending our potentials, and this applies to relationships as well as anything else.  I know that 'dating advice' and more generally, human relationships may seem a bit soft and fuzzy, a bit biological for many transhumanists.  

My take on it is that it's a valid extropian topic, as it's about our happiness and ambitions, just as much as life-extension or intelligence expansion is, just not as 'sexy' (cognitive dissonance intended), and even more so because it relates to the kind of personalities that often frequent this kind of list.

I'd hazard a guess that there are a number of lurkers here that lie west of the mean on a social skills scale, and wondering how they can improve in that area.

I'm happy to take this off-list now, which is where it probably needs to go anyway. I remember my ecology lecturer at college telling us that although populations of people can be described by the same kind of equations as populations of rabbits, it's not a good idea to tell them this.  It's easy to predict that people will get narked if you show them how predictable they are!  This kind of topic tends to get into that zone pretty quickly.

Ben Zaiboc