Re: extropians-digest V7 #150

From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Jun 06 2002 - 14:29:44 MDT


Alex Ramonsky wrote:

> Aha! I have to agree with dossy...humans behave like this. Their lives
> are a power game (and if you're alive, you're caught up in it.) I don't
> like that; I don't think it's neccessarily a good thing, but it is true.

Do we have to continue to play the game in this way though?
That, to me, is a far more interesting discussion.

> And because it is true, people do all kinds of shocking, horrifying
> things to each other about which we can be rightly shocked and
> horrified. We fight for power; the power to stay alive, raise a family,
> stay healthy and live a long time.

We fight when there is relative scarcity. It is questionable if
we need to in relative abundance.

>If we don't win a position of power
> sufficient to do these things, we fail to do them; we lose.

That we have to fight for a position of power to get anything
done is again an argument from scarcity.

> In the past, invading others and stealing resources or exploiting others
> for resources has been a part of this power play. Now, technology is an
> integral part of our lives.

Yes. So we do not need to fight so much.

> All the technology we may wish to own, at root, is power. It's a

> peaceful way to win, and there are more winners. If we take it far
> enough, we could all be winners. Isn't that what being extropian is all
> about?
>

I most certainly hope so. But often we don't seem to talk much
about things changing in this direction or how they will change
and how we get there from here as far as the memetic shifts
necessary go.

- samantha



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