From: Nick Bostrom (bostrom@ndirect.co.uk)
Date: Sat Feb 20 1999 - 09:29:11 MST
I've been in the lurking mode because I have been very busy with my
PhD and other things recently, but now it's finally time to present
'The Transhumanist FAQ'.
The project became much bigger than originally intended. The present
version is more than 15,000 words. I have tried to give substantial
answers that get to the core of the matter, while at the same time
being as concise as possible.
Many of the questions are really objections. Some of the objections
rest on misunderstandings, and they should meet with a vigorous
response. But others point out genuine problems, and there I think
the right approach is not to try to smooth over the difficulties or
wriggle out of the attack through clever rhetoric. Rather,
transhumanism will grow to the extent it is able to acknowledge these
problems and take them into account. If our opponents have a good
point, let's incorporate that into out thinking and be grateful that
they pointed it out to us -- then we will have one vulnerable spot
less in future encounters.
The FAQ would not have been possible without the input from many
people. At least 50 persons have contributed and I'm grateful to all
of you. Two persons must be especially mentioned: Kathryn Aegis, who
provided painstaking editorial help as well as valuable advise and
contributions to the content, and Anders Sandberg, who gave detailed
feedback, wrote some of the answers, and provided ideas for many of
them.
The FAQ will be continuously updated and modified. Especially the
initial round of feedback now might well necessitate substantial
revisions.
I suggest that we use critlink for comments on particular points of
substance and style, whereas more general comments can be made to the
lists.
The home of the FAQ is:
If you want to look at it with critlink, you go to:
http://www.crit.org/http://www.transhumanist.org
Now I will just have to sit back and await your judgement.
Nick Bostrom
http://www.hedweb.com/nickb n.bostrom@lse.ac.uk
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
London School of Economics
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