Re: Extropian principles, let's have a look

From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Jun 09 2000 - 13:09:59 MDT


Max More <max@maxmore.com> writes:

> At 09:51 AM 6/9/00, Anders wrote:
> >Max More <max@maxmore.com> writes:
> >
> >When I discuss transhumanism in Swedish, I tend to use the word
> >"utveckling" (literally translated it becomes "out-unfolding"), which
> >has the meaning of development, evolution, progress, growth,
> >generation etc. (you can see that Swedish lacks the synonyms of
> >English :-). The nice thing is that it conjures up an image of not a
> >linear progression, but rather something unfolding and developing into
> >many directions at once.
>
> Anders: If you check earlier versions of the Principles, you'll see that
> instead of Perpetual Progress I used to have "Boundless Expansion". A
> number of people didn't like that, thinking that it gaving the impression
> that we wanted to "pave over the universe".

Yes, but I actually think it was better than the current PP (besides,
I long for the days with a simple mnemonic :-).

I agree that we need to avoid the pave the universe meme, people all
to easily ascribe it to us. But that shouldn't mean we just abandon a
good term.

>"Expansion" or "unfolding"
> (thought the latter I don't like as much) *does* more clearly convey
> multiple paths, or diverse *ways* of making progress. But then how to avoid
> the "paving over" (and perhaps imperialist) connotations of "expansion"?

Tricky. Unfolding has been used by far too much new age fluff.

Divergence? Might suggest disagreement or dissolution. Boundless evolution?

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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