Re: a kinder, gentler face of capitalism?

From: Mark Walker (mdwalker@quickclic.net)
Date: Sun Jan 20 2002 - 11:10:54 MST


----- Original Message -----
From: "Damien Broderick" <d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au>
?

> At 02:24 AM 1/18/02 EST, T.0. Morrow wrote:
>
> >I find off-topic discussions by others tiresome, and suspect this never
> *was*
> >suitable subject matter for this list, and so will let it go at that.
>
> Am-MAZE-ing.
>
Amazing hardly seems to capture it.

> I can only read this as a rebuke from one of the founders of extropianism,
> telling me that a discussion of one way to enhance health broadly in the
> community, and the varieties of ways to fund that, is OFF TOPIC for this
list.
>
Samantha wrote:

> Hmmmm. Are we actually expected to take it as a major downer if
> a "founder" objects or rebukes us on something we say? What
> for? Call me dense but someone would have to actually come up
> to my e-face and say point-blank that I was anti-extropian in
> this that and the other way and to please desist or split. But
> perhaps I am just dense about these things.

I think this misses the point. Damien is hardly what you would call "thin
skinned". If the owners of this list regularly said that an opinion was "off
topic" simply because it is not shared by them, I think that many of us
would be out of here quicksmart. This exchange between Tom and Damien
appeared to be at least one instance of this: what Damien said was clearly
in the purview of this list, and yet it was claimed that it was not.
Although this was not one of the most pleasant exchanges on this list, the
list is stronger for it, and thus I am glad Damien called him on this. No
list is perfect, and (to turn a phrase from Churchhill) the EX list is
probably the worst transhumanist list--besides all others. Let's keep it
that way.



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