From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Wed Oct 11 2000 - 17:01:25 MDT
> I appreciate your enthusiasm as shown in your participation on the
> Extropians List. However, I'm getting complaints from a number of people
> about excessive posting from a few individuals, you being among them.
>
> Hal Finney -- the person who has expressed this feeling on the list, but
> not the only person -- suggested a sensible guideline: No more than six
> posts per day. That makes it more likely that each one will be thoughtful.
> It will also reduce the traffic jam that threatens to induce people to
> leave the List in frustration.
>
> I'd appreciate you keeping your posting volume down to that level.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Max
Okey-dokey artichokey.
How sad we have so many whiners and complainers on a list that supposedly
supports high technology. Can't these crybabies figure out how to use a delete
button or an e-mail filter? Oh, well. I guess that just goes to prove that
opposites attract: entropic nudges are attracted to extropic glitter.
Just to be on the safe side, I've decided to post no more than 5 (count 'em,
five) messages to the list per day. (This is the third one today -- but I've
received 55 messages from the list.) If we find anyone else breaking the volume
barrier, we'll just send extra copies of your recommendation to them, all right?
Here's a sample of today's Extropy list mail with some playful remarks.
somebody wrote,
> My mom loves me more today for it -- she's
> finally grown up a buit herself - but I moved out for the first time at 16.
Well, now isn't that special. Perhaps someday you'll grow up a buit yourself.
Better watch out though. The cops go looking for teenage runaways.
somebody else wrote,
>This appears to be a web page for a commercial outfit looking to get into
>the whole body transplant biz. Kind of a wide-open market, I would think. I
>might be in the market a few decades from now...
>Haven't had time to look at this link, but will do so later
Better hurry before they run out of heads to transplant onto your body.
somebody else wrote,
> humans will probably always create some sort of transcendental belief
> system. The communists and nazis were atheists but in effect created their
> own belief system or religion that they were willing to die for.
Wrong. Nazis were supported by the Catholic church, which is somewhat theistic.
somebody else wrote,
> I'm very close to being bi-polar between ENFP and ENTP myself.
Don't worry too much about it. Someday soon they'll have medication for that.
somebody else wrote,
>The future waits for the problem-solvers
No it does not. The future waits for no one. It often steam-rollers failed
problem solvers.
somebody else wrote,
>The heat is on
>It's make or break time for the dream of never-ending fusion power
Indeed, the heat is on. Some call it "global warming" which comes from the
almost never-ending fusion power of the Sun.
somebody else wrote,
>I'm sure there is a market for nukes which must be used while still
>fresh. Stockpile stewardship people certainly get paid to think about
>this.
Uncle Sam has nukes so fresh you have to slap them. Neutron bombs are no myth.
Too bad we don't get paid to post about these things, huh?
somebody else wrote,
>Moral: The technology better be flawless before people hop on the ride. But I
>guess that was true of the first Roller-Coaster?
Probably not. That's what makes it so thrilling. There's always the chance the
roller-coaster will crash and break all the bones in your body. Ya gotta die
sometime. Might as well go out screamin'
somebody else wrote,
>I am fully aware of the
>process by which we are being stripped of all rights, not just guns. The
>Million Moms "grassroots" movement is a prime example.
Stop that trolling! Just because America is ruled by Momism is no reason to say
so.
somebody else wrote,
>What would you say punishment is for? Your use of "punishment "
>gives the impression of "retaliation".
Retaliation should ideally be punishing, but punishment is often unconscious
enough to deny it has anything to do with retaliation. For example, silly people
may punish us with their idiocy, but not in a retaliatory fashion.
somebody else wrote,
> The death penalty is the only just punishment for the crime of
> murder. (IMO)
That's probably what some murderers think when they kill someone. Gang members
often resort to execution as a means of settling scores.
somebody else wrote,
>I doubt it would be worthwhile making a bomb with an element heavier than
>plutonium, pre-detonation would be a real problem so you couldn't make a
>very powerful bomb, and it would be as expensive as hell.
Why make hell cheap?
somebody else wrote,
>> My current hypothesis for what is causing the Flynn effect is based on
>>the kind of sexual selection
Fat chance! The Flynn effect (basically, everyone's IQ is rising) owes most to
the fact that teachers are teaching the test, and students cheat more now than
they ever have before.
somebody else wrote,
>I never do anything about amassing money, but as a worker I think about
>what kind of work I can do to contribute to the positive direction of
>global networking.
Good thinking! There's way too many people contributing to the *negative"
direction of global networking.
somebody else wrote,
>Do extropians indulge their carnal desires to any extent?
>Without staining their souls?
Holy smoke! What a profound couple of questions. It must be difficult to indulge
carnal desires without staining something... even if it's only the bed sheets.
But since souls don't exist, no doubt extropes can do it without imaginary
stains.
somebody else wrote,
"Immortality: My long life ambition"
If it's only a "long life" ambition, then it sure ain't gonna result in
immortality, sweetheart.
somebody else wrote,
>The idea isn't to alter gender but to render it unimportant; as unimportant
>as the color of one's eyes.
Oh yeah, that's sure to happen.
And why stop there? Make the species unimportant as well. What the hell, make
animate objects unimportant. There's an idea for you: Start marketing "sex
rocks" for people to whom organic or inorganic is as unimportant as the color of
one's eyes. (Don't forget, age should be as unimportant as the color of one's
eyes. So sex with six-year-olds is also OK)
somebody else wrote,
>-- even asked what the hooks in the bedroom ceiling were for
> --as if she could not guess. I finally just gave up and left everything out.
Yes, you left out the explanation for what the hooks are for.
somebody else wrote,
>Once virtual immortalism is
>achieved somehow, the you will get a test of existentialism.
No kidding? You mean to say that when people can live forever they're still
going to be immured by the sophism of Jean-Paul Sartre? Think again.
somebody else wrote,
>Even better, we should see how we can polish up transhumanist
>thinking in order not to fall into the traps he describes.
Better yet, we should breed AIs that can do that for us. No sense wasting time
on those who have obviously chosen to stay behind when technological singularity
emerges.
somebody else wrote,
>These polls never work. The E's shout out "I'm an E!" And the I's just sit
>there muttering, "No freaking kidding."
No we don't. We sit there muttering, "Who freaking cares"
somebody else wrote,
>The idea that some will go on towards Singularity (or whatever) and
>the rest will remain, is of course one of the main Scary Arguments
>Against the Singularity
It's that "or whatever" that seems to argue rather poignantly against the idea
that humans will ever live up to the fantasies that science has allowed them to
entertain.
somebody else wrote,
>how candidates do in
>a debate, if new scandals about candidates surface, how the media spins each
>candidate to the public, as well as world events and economic trends. Dealing
>with this is very much like Hari Seldon's Science of Psychohistory
Hari Seldon, the man who laid the framework for the universe that came to be
known as the Foundation (Asimov's trilogy), indeed did a better job of it than
any real live human.
somebody else wrote,
>Certainly, minors reading Extropians are a positive force in society.
>Therefore, I'm saying we should help Johnny keep his secrets.
Don't ask, don't tell Johnny's secrets.
(I won't tell, if you don't tell.)
somebody else wrote,
>J R's message seems to be intentionally baiting, but I'll give it a go
>anyway.
The only "baiting" going on here is the mental master-baiting you're doing.
somebody else wrote,
>If anyone retitled this discussion as "Is online pornography a positive
>force in society?", I'd have no objection - it looks like a clean subject line
>to me.
And if the answer turns out to be "yes" then we should not hesitate to use
sexually explicit language in the subject line.
somebody else wrote,
>Until we have better tools, let's be considerate of what we do have an
>think about mailboxes overfull with posts from the same people.
It sounds like you haven't learned how to use the filter feature of your e-mail
program...
no need to wait for better tools, just learn to use the ones you already have.
somebody else wrote,
>We punish a perpetrator for his crime in order to educate or change him and
>finally to avoid repetition of the crime.
For perpetrating the crime of sexism (calling the perp "he") I sentence you to
five minutes of having your head removed from your rectum.
Well kids, that's all for now.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
3M TA3
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