From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Thu Feb 25 1999 - 11:22:08 MST
Natasha Vita-More <natasha@natasha.cc> writes:
> Is there a need for an extropic transhuman spirituality? I'm not referring
> to Theology with gods or Gods, or Paganism, nor by spirituality am I
> referring to mystical acceptance of spirits in a hereafter, and the reward
> of such. What I am referring to is a sense of one's essence in connection
> to life, will and the universe.
A great posting, Natasha! It mirrors my thinking a great deal. We
don't want to let go of our rationality, our appreciation of science,
technology and human ability in exchange for comfort, great feelings
and sense of meaning. We want both. And I don't think there is any
contradiction here, it is just that this is a relatively unexplored
area of spirituality.
What is sacred? That which is deeply meaningful to us. What is truly
spiritual? That which touches our innermost values and thoughts. They
might or might not be universal. But one thing is sure: sacredness and
sprituality cannot exist without beings that experience them, as
little as joy can exist without anybody capable of feeling it.
We are of course connected to the universe, in a trivial (?) way: we
are simply subsets of it. But what does it *mean* to us? That is
hardly trivial, it is a question that links to the basic questions
about our core goals, core values, what ethics and aesthetics we
follow. I think a lot of the "revelations" mystics achieve are really
expanded emotional understanding of this relationship, their
intellectual content is usually trivial or tautological but their real
value lies in refining one's connection to the rest of the world on
all other levels. It is one thing to know everything is fields and
quantum states, another thing to feel it and see how this relates to
other aspects of oneself.
> There is a need for some form of emotional/intellectual synthesis which
> brings out the integrity in our being. There is something, some sort of
> synergy, some element that I sense is not discussed. Anders, in a separate
> post states, "One might imagine a gradual ascent into embodying something
> regarded as positive, a kind of slow apotheosis as the personality and
> ability develops."
>
> Perhaps this is a returning point for me as I realize that what I need is
> not only intellectual and creative stimulation, but also a stimulation of
> the essence of my being. I don't want a placebo, I do want a continued
> understanding that the essence of my being is continuously becoming
> enlightened and balance - more conscious.
We want transhumanism to be more than just supercharged humanism with
high technology, we want a synergy of being.
When using various mental techniques, setting up habits and
metaprogramming oneself, it sometimes turns out that one's methods or
apparent goals are in conflict with deeper goals. The result is that
the techniques and methods do not work or one stops using them,
employing more or less transparent rationalization. But if they fit
together with one's deeper values and goals, then they get a fantastic
boost, things almost click together. I expect the same thing to go for
other transhumanist technologies: we will likely not be able to
efficiently transform ourselves without being at least in touch with
our core. Some technologies and methods really have spiritual
properties or sacredness to us.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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