[ExI] transhumanism by any other name

[Max More]

Professor X, not Dr X.

--Max (Dr. X)


On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 7:16 PM, Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 4:18 PM, Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > The point of Magneto is to be The Bad Guy.  So he doesn't care about
> other people.  Dr. X does.  Magneto wants the mutants to win, but he also
> wants the baselines to lose.  This is not a convincing argument to me.  We
> want win-win scenarios, not win-lose ones.
> >
> > The most telling scene in the X-men films, to me, is when Mystique loses
> her powers, and Magneto instantly turns his back on her, leaving her naked
> on the ground, to die for all he cares.  That defines his character more
> than any powers or arguments about mutants vs. baselines.  I don't want
> that to be associated with transhumanism.  Do you?
>
> of course not.  However, that movie had tons of Hollywood problems.  I
> originally posted this about First Class.  After Eric (later to become
> Magneto) deflects a gunshot in self-defense that strikes Xavier (later
> Dr.X) he extracts the bullet from his friend - and, at least I
> thought, was truly saddened.
>
> I also take much of Magneto's diatribe against normals (baselines) as
> equivalent/similar to Ayn Rand's attack on normals (pretty much every
> consumerist herd-mentality livestock)
>
> Yeah, that scene where he steps over Mystic is just raw.  I think that
> is a plot device more than a realistic character portrayal.  Granted,
> those movie-moments define the character - but the long friendship (?)
> with Xavier suggests he was not simply the monster depicted in other
> moments.  If being a motivated/driven SOB makes Magento a monster,
> then we should examine successful business leaders for this same
> trend.  ex: You don't think Steve Jobs got to the top without a few
> abused people in his wake?
>
> On a different note, did you like the class lesson Dr.X gave his
> students about the moral implications of transferring consciousness
> into the mindless patient... who at the end of the movie wakes up and
> greets Minerva (one of Dr.X's oldest friends)
>
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-- 
Max More, PhD
Strategic Philosopher
Co-editor, *The Transhumanist Reader*
President & CEO, Alcor Life Extension Foundation
7895 E. Acoma Dr # 110
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
480/905-1906 ext 113
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