From: Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Apr 04 1997 - 10:30:34 MST
On Thu, 3 Apr 1997, Langlois wrote:
> I am very interested in what everyone has to say on the topic, if
> anyone has been storing pithy one-liners for a theological vs. technological
> argument now would be the time to use them. The grader of this paper is
> very conservitive bordering on creationism and I am going to have to go a
> long way to make my case.
Sounds like a hard problem, but most probably worthwhile.
When people accuse me of wanting to play God I usually point out that it
is by playing one truly learns.
Here are some one-liners and other quotes:
"...the only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand
our best efforts to examine it." - Daniel C. Dennett
It's time to stop worshipping gods and aim at becoming gods. -- Markoff
Chaney
We are alreadly like gods, now we better get good at it too. --
Misquoted from somewhere (Whole Earth Review?)
"I see no difference between physical and spiritual.
How about this:
a physical mind,
a physical body,
a physical soul,
a physical heaven,
and a physical God.
I notice that the definitions of those concepts are very mystical.
I believe mysticism is tactic used to keep people stupid.
Stupid people are too busy arguing about things
to notice they are being killed.
It is memetic warfare."
Mike Cowar
Two little longer but relevant quotes:
Like the Romantics before them, genre SF writers have generally been on
the side of Faust, convinced that the quest for knowledge was a sacred
one, no matter how fondly a jealous God might prefer blind faith.
Stableford, Brian and Peter Nichols. 1993. "Technology." Pp. 1202-1204 in
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, eds. John Clute and Peter Nichols.
NY: St. Martins Press.
The second face had the classical beauty that could belong to a man as
well as a woman. There was no particular expression of virility nor of
femininity. Still it wasn't a blank face; it expressed youth -- eternal
triumphant youth -- transcending everything else. The expression
proclaimed pure simple existence, superior to any mystery, torment or
nostalgias. It was a plenitude, not self-contained, but expressing
limitlessness. In other words, it was a face of a god and very human at
the same time. This head proclaimed, "God is human and human is God."
William Markiewicz (from some issue of the Vagabond)
And finally a fun exchange from the omega-point theory list:
Cosma: Man trully *is* God
Jim Davila: Heaven help us!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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