From: Joseph Sterlynne (vxs@mailandnews.com)
Date: Thu Jan 13 2000 - 07:05:05 MST
> Menno Rubingh
>In reaction to the slightly annoying :-) (and in spite of our
>Extropian 'Dynamic Optimism' to me somewhat surprising) degree to
>which many people on >H and Extropian mailing lists persist in
>exhibiting what I can only call (techno-)pessimism and defaitism (see
>e.g. the threads 'extropian enemies lists', 'Debate Failure', and
>'Opposition to Transhumanism' on this mailing list very recently), I
>want to posit the following thesis:
None of those threads exhibited "technopessimism" or defeatism. They
appeared in order to identify factions which are actively opposed to
technological progress, to identify problems and inefficiencies within
this list's discourse, and to discuss transhumanists' theoretical and
practical relationship to politics and media. This was all done, I
think, with expectations that these problems could be solved and that
public or private action of some nature must be taken to achieve our
goals. Pointing out problems or opposition is not necessarily being
pessimistic; it can be done (and was in general done here) to encourage
improvement.
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