From: Max More (max@maxmore.com)
Date: Wed Sep 11 2002 - 05:07:41 MDT
I meant to send this to the list as a whole...
>Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 17:02:21 -0700
>To: Dan Fabulich <dfabulich@warpmail.net>
>From: Max More <max@maxmore.com>
>Subject: Re: Hard questions was: META: Proposed Inclusion statement
>Cc: Max
>
>Dan -- I'm not going to get into a detailed philosophical discussion of
>this statement. My priority here is action. However, some quick comments
>which may serve to clarify the intent, if that's not obvious enough:
>
>At 04:20 PM 9/10/2002 -0700, Dan Fabulich wrote:
>
>> > STATEMENT OF INCLUSION: Extropy Institute welcomes participation by all
>> > those who resonate with most of the Extropian Principles regardless of
>> > race, sex, sexual preference, nationality, or ethnicity.
>>
>>I notice that "religion" is not included. Is this by design? Are we open
>>to all religions, so long as they agree with most of the principles?
>
>Yes, by design. The list of qualities are those that *people do not
>choose* and which are irrelevant to being extropian. Religion is chosen.
>That doesn't mean we exclude members of any particular religion, since an
>individual may be predominantly extropian despite implicitly adhering to
>faith (in the epistemological sense). Turning it around, just because
>someone is non-religious certainly does not mean that they are
>particularly rational or even attempt to be rational. So, there is no
>blanket or stated resistance to followers of particular religions, but we
>are not exactly *welcoming* religious adherents. I don't care in the least
>if someone is hetero, homo, or bisexual, white, black, yellow, or purple,
>but your religion -- more importantly, you interpretation of your religion
>-- does make a difference.
>
>>"Political party" is not included. Is this by design? Are we open to all
>>political parties?
>
>No, we are not. Some political views clearly conflict strongly with more
>than one extropian principle. But, like religion, it would be a bad idea
>to try to list excluded politics, since individuals vary drastically in
>what they mean by "communist", "liberal", etc.
>
>>"Age" is not included. Is this by design? Are we open to very young
>>minors?
>
>Yes. All ages are welcome. The only requirement for membership and for
>participation is a sufficient degree of comprehension and consent. Some 8
>year old may understand better than some 40 year olds. No universal policy
>here makes sense. My own preference is to be exceedingly liberal about age
>requirements. It hasn't been an issue, but at some point it might make
>sense to have "Junior Memberships".
>
>>"Proficiency in the English language" is not included. Do we encourage
>>those with poor writing ability or those without a good grasp of the
>>English language to post here?
>
>The statement says nothing about posting to the Extropians list. This has
>its own set of rules. Language is not currently one of them. Nor do I
>think it should be unless it really becomes a problem.
>
>>"Profession" is not included. "Mental or physical disability" is not
>>included. "Intelligence" is not included.
>
>Okay, maybe we should exclude homeopathic doctors! We could certainly add
>disabilities, though today that seems so obvious as not to be worth
>including. We don't have to include *every* possible basis of
>discrimination -- bad breath, being grossly overweight (I'm tempted
>here!), being butt-ugly, being rude, etc.
>
>>Do we welcome all people equally, so long as they resonate with most of
>>the principles?
>
>I doubt that most of us welcome all people equally, but each of us will
>have different preferences. I don't think *total* agreement with *all* the
>principles should be necessary for membership, let along other forms of
>participation.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Max
>
>_______________________________________________________
>Max More, Ph.D.
>max@maxmore.com or more@extropy.org
>http://www.maxmore.com
>Strategic Philosopher
>President, Extropy Institute. http://www.extropy.org <more@extropy.org>
>_______________________________________________________
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:16:56 MST