From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Tue Mar 19 2002 - 13:55:11 MST
John Benner writes:
> I hope I'm not going to step on anyone's toes, but
> I've a few questions on transhumanism. I first ran
> into the concept in Orion's Arm, a sci-fi setting at
> www.orionsarm.com . In the course of that, I was
> directed to the Extropian web site, and came across
> their Extropian philosophy. It's sparked quite a few
> questions, and I hope someone or -ones here can help
> me with them.
A quick correction: when you asked whether the order of improvements
listed under "Self-Transformation" was intentional, did you mean
whether the various improvements were listed in order of desirability?
The answer is no, I think there was no intention to rank, say, moral
above intellectual above physical self-improvement, simply because that
was the order in which the words appeared.
Let me give you a more general answer rather than looking at your
questions point by point. Extropianism is a personal philosophy,
and as such is not suited for everyone. It seems that you find some
of the principles attractive, some not so much, and others perhaps
not practical. It might be that Extropianism is not suited for you.
That's fine, it isn't meant to be for everyone. On the other hand it
is possible that with time and thought, you would come to agree with
the key ideas of Extropianism.
A question you might ask yourself in order to determine whether you would
want to pursue Extropianism is this: Can you perceive an underlying
connection or common rationale behind the Principles? Do you see how
they fit together to form a unifying whole, or do they instead seem to
you to be a random hodgepodge of ideas, some good and some bad?
To me, they all fit into a common pattern. It's hard to boil it down into
a few words (that's why there are so many Principles) but the basic idea
is to take responsibility for your life and to try to be the best that
you can be. All of the Principles fit together to provide guidelines that
can help and inspire us to continue to move forward towards this goal.
In itself, there is nothing radical about this philsophical goal.
I'm not a philosopher but I'll bet it goes back to the ancient Greeks.
What is new in Extropianism is to take it seriously; you might even say,
to take it literally. With the new technologies that are going to be
becoming available, self improvement is taking on entirely new dimensions.
Extropianism embraces these new possibilities whole-heartedly and
courageously. It takes the ancient idea of self-perfection and says,
at last we have the tools to make it happen. We can take this old idea,
which in the past could be implemented only in the most minimal way,
and finally do something with it.
Extropianism provides a path through the 21st century and beyond.
But it is only one possible path. Extropians have a head start because
most philosophies have not yet begun to grapple with the challenges that
the new technologies will pose. But eventually other philosophies will
arise that provide their own paths. It will be up to you to find the
way that is in accord with your own values and beliefs.
Hal Finney
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