From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Sat Dec 21 2002 - 19:03:11 MST
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Anders Sandberg
> On Sat, Dec 21, 2002 at 04:00:40PM -0800, Reason wrote:
> >
> > ---> Robert J. Bradbury
> > >
> > > It is worth noting that stem cell research is moving forward
> > > in China at warp speed, entirely devoid of politics and spin
> > > found in the U.S. so Extropians need not be overly concerned
> > > with Kass & Co.
> >
> > I really don't think we can afford to let people like Kass go
> unchallenged.
> > It's fairly clear where as to his ambitions lie in terms of hindering or
> > preventing as much of this research as he can
>
> I agree. Even if he can't stop Chinese researchers from doing useful
> research he can slow or stop US research, and that is where most of the
> research is done today. Even a local ban would slow things. And once you
> have a local ban, why stop there? His stated views are universalist, and
> Joy and Fukuyama are promoting ideas about how to go about implementing
> restrictions worldwide. Suppose they could hook their anti-tech ideas to
> the anti-terrorist bandwagon?
Yeah, what he said :)
> > My current thoughts on managable distributed activism run along
> the lines of
> > letter writing campaigns to research facilities, corporations and funds
> > putting money into this sort of thing. Tell them we appreciate
> what they're
> > doing, want them to stand up to government luddites, think the
> government
> > should mind their own business, and that we'll be first in line
> to buy real
> > anti-aging products. I think that will do more good per letter
> than trying
> > to talk to politicians.
>
> This is a nice idea I hope we do (a friend at a political journal told
> me that if they received more than two letters about an issue it
> demonstrated to them that it was a relevant issue; OK, this is little
> Sweden, but scale it up by twenty or so and you get the same effect in
> the US). But I also think you are aiming at the wrong groups (with the
> possible exception of the funders): these are end-users of ideas,
> influenced by ideas in society and academia rather than the producers
> and distributors of ideas.
>
> To really get an effect we should aim to influence the "purveyors of
> second-hand ideas" as Hayek put it, the intellectuals and pundits that
> produce and magnify our culture's ideas. They range from the pure
> academics to journalists. So start to write essays for journals, or even
> better suitably controversial and interesting books. One can always
> start by writing heartfelt letters to get one's writing style, then go
> on writing articles for journals and websites, then essays and academic
> publications. It is fun, and it has important effects.
Well, this will be happening. It's on the list after a) building a mailing
list back-end for longevitymeme.org, b) transhumanism.com site redesign, c)
singularitypath site construction, d) bioethicssucks.org reseach and
writing. (The day job fits in there somewhere :) I intend to make this sort
of thing my default "how can you help" section for my advocacy sites.
So the question would be the actual list of people/organizations we're
encouraging people to write to? I'm all for greater economies of effect per
letter. I see the following sorts of letter as most useful (and take the
quotes with a pinch of salt):
1) As potential consumer to major drug/medical company: "when are you coming
out with real anti-aging stuff, because my money is so there when you do"
2) As outraged individual to journal: "how dare they try to kill us all, the
murderous luddites"
3) As grateful individual to funding organizations: "you are absolutely
doing the right thing by funding this research, keep it up, since my money
is so there when you get results"
I was more thinking letters from the public rather than articles. Akin to
political letter-writing campaigns that provide some guidance as to what to
put into the letters but encourage freehand rewriting.
Reason
http://www.exratio.com/
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