From: hal@finney.org
Date: Tue Sep 26 2000 - 10:07:57 MDT
Corey asks:
> Is the core idea of Extropy (as I understand it, summarized by "Upward and
> Outward") predicated on a libertarian philosophy? Does one have to accept
> all the other excess baggage that comes with libertarianism (i.e. absolute
> freedom to own and use firearms, no centralized legal systems, decentralized
> or no environmental regulations, no public investment from non-private
> organizations, etc.) to be a true extropian?
I do think that libertarianism is a natural political philosophy
for an extropian to adopt. Extropians believe in removing limits,
and libertarianism is that philosophy which puts the fewest limits on
people's actions.
Earlier I posed questions about how modern liberalism could coexist with
an extropian philosophy. What is the meaning of a minimum wage law,
when there is a continuum of intelligences from AI through transhuman?
How can the basic idea of social equality exist in a world where some
beings think millions of times faster than others? It seems to me that
a laissez faire attitude will work best in the future we anticipate.
> I ask this question as a believer in the concepts of expanding beyond what
> are accepted as "common" limitations - overcoming such barriers as aging
> pathologies and death, limitations of the physical body (strength, endurance,
> etc.), limitations of input bandwidth and storage, gravity wells, the speed of
> light... All of these things that we can and SHOULD overcome.
Facetiously I said, "we tell people that in 30 years everyone will be
an immortal superman and they say, ho hum. But suggest that someone
ought to be able to work for less than the minimum age, and all hell
breaks loose." Seriously, I can't understand how you can accept the
massive changes which the concepts above entail, while still being
married to modern social government concepts.
Hal
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