RE: Norman Spinrad on THE SPIKE

From: J Corbally (icorb@indigo.ie)
Date: Wed Jun 06 2001 - 16:11:23 MDT


>• This is not a cult or a sect - this is a discussion forum. While we
>strive to keep open minds, we are skeptical of supernatural and dogmatic
>claims. As Transhumans, we hold the opinion that technology will
>eventually attain the sophistication to enable us to overcome our
>limitations as intelligent, conscious entities - among them being
>suffering, ageing and death. However, we maintain that this will only be
>attainable through the methods of science and the application of reason,
>foresight, and a rational ethic to solve our problems. While many of our
>concepts and ideas may seem unorthodox, it’s worth noting that in their
>respective times, the concepts of instant world wide communication, human
>flight, and placing humans on the surface of another world were believed
>to be impossible, even bizarre.

This is a section of the text Colm wrote for the ITFA website. Being the
kinds of people who would be automatically wary of "radical" organisations,
we immediately saw the need to clarify this point. I think it's timely to
copy it here.

While Transhumanism and Extropianism are certainly not cults or cultish in
their ways, the original point is well taken.

James...

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and
crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures
to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."
-Q, Star Trek:TNG episode 'Q Who'



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