From: Dickey, Michael F (michael_f_dickey@groton.pfizer.com)
Date: Wed Jul 17 2002 - 14:28:03 MDT
Vanessa said:
<<People do get emotional when they discover somebody has an "alien" value
system. >>
"Thats really too bad. Its something I've been reluctant to accept (blame it
on youthful idealism) but now that I'm starting to see it, I'm far less
disappointed by people in general - I just expect them to react like jerks
now. But I also think thats why I keep to myself more about my ideas - I've
learned my lesson the hard way. People are pretty serious about their values
-
like its hard for them to be "wrong" but its unthinkable to be "bad" (if
that makes any sense)."
Vanessa, I have found that utilizing facts and graphs (the more visual the
better) can really help sway someone's opinion drastically. For instance,
with the whole cryonics topic recently my coworkers insisted that the
technology would not be there to facilitate resuscitation. I printed up a
few copies of Ray Kurzweil's "law of accelerating returns" and sat down and
went over each graph and page with them, showing the linear vs. exponential
views, and clearly demonstrating the rapid growth of technology and
information. Kurzweils paper graphed such diverse things as the mass use of
inventions, the scanning cost and resolution of passive brain scanners, the
shrinking of mechanical components, and the growth in computational
abilities. I even managed to get them to accept that most technologies
would have almost identical graphs. They were both quite altered by the
paper and my going over it, and neither of them would have bothered to read
the paper on their own. In debates I try to remain sincere and
compassionate at all times, and I often try to ensure the discussion remains
impersonal (e.g. "well, the typical counter argument to that would be....")
I wouldnt be so dissapointed in people in general, as Voltaire said, "we are
all products of our generation." Very few rise above the median, but all
are capable of it. Unfortunately our society (especially in the US) plays
down the value of intelligence, for various reasons. These are all society
imposed constructs, we have no genetic predisposition to not want to learn
(at least thats what I would argue) children are learning machines, they are
full of questions and curiosities and want to know everything. Too often
they are greeted by retorts from adults like 'You are not supposed to ask
such things' or even annoyance at the question being asked, especially if
the adult doesn't know the answer (e.g. 'Why is the sky blue') Only in the
US is it an insult to call someone 'Einstein' But raised in the appropriate
environment (say an Extropian household of commune), that vast majority of
people would embrace the quest for knowledge and learning, If I had ten
kids, im sure 7 or 8 would turn out to hold Extropian friendly ideals (the
second probably would be a communist luddite or something, given that second
born are significantly more likely to drastically differ ideologically from
their parents) This, if any reason, may be a good one for Extropian to have
children and facilitate the onset of the singularity, for the same reason
the churches often suggest having as many children as possible. Spreading
memes is good, and spreading memes to children is easier than any other
manner, as you are their primary influence. People will act like jerks when
confronted with strange or different things, but only because they have been
trained by society to act like jerks.
Regards,
Michael
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