From: Gregory Houston (vertigo@triberian.com)
Date: Fri Mar 28 1997 - 02:22:09 MST
Recently there was a thread on possible revisions to the Extropian
Principles. I don't know if its worth serious consideration or not,
[this is more of a refinement than a revision] but thought I would put
my own two cents in and offer a small criticism on the principle of
Self-Transformation.
I think there is an element of dynamic mutability lacking in the
Extropic definition of self-transformation. The definition seems to be
oriented towards progressive change, while overlooking the issue of
dynamic contextual change, change for the impending moment, rather than
merely change in anticipation for the future.
As "perpetual self-improvement", The way we look at self-transformation
now, we are going to become something better in the future, and then
something still better, and then something still better, ad infinitum.
But imagine that we developed our technological augmentation with
mutability in mind. Then we might each individually possess an
archetypal arsenal of physical embodiments at our disposal in any given
moment. From this archetypal arsenal we could then choose the physical
embodiment which best suited our anticipation of the impending moments
ahead. And of course, each archetypal embodiment could then me modified
realtime in sort of a feedback between the individual and the
individual's contextual circumstances. This is probably sounding like
something in the realm of science fiction, and has been developed in
that genre before [shape shifters, etcetera], but there is atleast one
aspect of our lives that this idea of dynamic mutability can be applied
today, and thats in our states of mind. In something of a "yogic"
fashion we can develop our own personal archetypal arsenal of states of
mind, and then as our circumstances change we can dynamically shift
between these modalities of consciousness to best suit our immiediate
goals. We already do this of course, we are in a different modality of
consciousness when we are driving a car than when we are reading a book,
but when we actually start focusing on it we can make the process all
the more effective.
Just as one day it may become as easy for us to alter our state of mind
as it is for us now to "change our minds" [to change what we are
thinking about], it may also one day become as easy for us to modify or
change our physical embodiments as it is for us now to "change our
minds".
IMHO, I think the addition of this concept of dynamic protean mutability
might be useful to the Extropic principle of self-transformation. Just a
thought ...
Explore and play!
--
Gregory Houston Triberian Institute of Emotive Education
vertigo@triberian.com http://www.triberian.com
phone: 816.561.1524 info@triberian.com
cellular: 816.807.6660 snail: PO Box 32046 Kansas City MO 64171
"Empowered, impassioned, we have a lust for life insatiable!"
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