From: Sabine Atkins (sabine@posthuman.com)
Date: Mon Nov 04 2002 - 13:51:20 MST
I really understand how Natasha feels. WTA and ExI should emphasize that it's
most important to work together. I'm sorry that she has to spend so much of her
valuable time to remind everybody of this. It should be common sense. Let's keep
the nitpicking on the different views expressed in different mailing lists to a
minimum, and let's find out how we can work together. IMHO, both organizations
should be as free as possible from being defined by certain postings on their
mailing lists.
In the mailing lists it's necessary that people can express their thoughts
freely. But maybe every now and then it would help if after these thoughts
there's a little disclaimer that this or that opinion doesn't necessarily
represent the opinion of all people subscribed and/or the whole organization?
I'm proud to be a lifetime member of ExI and I'm proud to be a member of WTA.
And I would find it very sad, if someone would come up to me, asking me either:
"So, you're a member of ExI, you're a libertarian then?" or: "So, you're a
member of WTA, you're a socialist democrat then?" Whether I prefer this or the
other political party is nobody's business, what I want people to know is that
I'm for scientific and technological progress.
I agree that it's important for transhumanism and transhumanists to express
ideas on politics. Politics affect all our lives, here and now. But since it's
well known that expressing ideas on politics quickly leads to polarizations, we
have to be extremely careful: IMHO, the ideas on politics should be expressed in
such a way that it's clear that they are not the main part of transhumanism or
that they are not the main reason why one transhumanist organization is
different from the other.
IMHO, it would be very wrong for WTA and ExI to step up as "competitors
regarding political flavors": Because transhumanism is no mainstream philosophy
yet, and emphasizing differences in political flavors could put a strain on our
efforts to make it more mainstream.
Hughes, James wrote:
> Yes thank you Natasha. But I think your post is directed to the wrong list
> and the wrong person. I am precisely urging that the wta-talk list remains
> one where a diversity of voices can be heard and transhumanism discussed
> outside of the constraints of one particular political ideology. Nor am I
> alone in recognizing a decided tilt in the discussions on the Extropian list
> that results in people who are not libertarian being quickly flamed off. As
> to your question "Who cares if you vote for lowering taxes and she votes for
> raising them"? the answer is apparently most transhumanists, both on this
> list and on the extropian list.
>
> J.
-- Sabine Atkins, http://www.posthuman.com/
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