Re: EMOTIONAL IQ: (Transhumans: Anger management vs. Guns)

From: mark@unicorn.com
Date: Thu Jun 10 1999 - 07:12:03 MDT


dwayne [dwayne@pobox.com] wrote:
>Thatcher was socialist?

I'd say Thatcher was more of a fascist, but that's not what I was talking
about. Britain used to be an incredibly socialist nation, and while Thatcher
increased that in some areas (more taxes, more Health Service funding) and
it's still far more socialist than America in most areas, it's hardly
comparable to the state it was in before she was elected.

>Actually, I like this idea. It surprises me that you guys wouldn't.
>I guess suffering in a harsh and ugly future is cooler than living in a
>world where me managed to fix the buggered bits.

I'm quite happy to fix my 'buggered bits'. What offends me is the continual
suggestions of forcibly 'fixing' other people's 'buggered bits'. Not to
mention that a society of people having perpetual orgasms is likely to very
rapidly collapse, even if they don't become just resources for the few
aggressive posthumans who escape the purge.

>Why get angry about it? Why not just ask them to stop?

Because if you don't get angry when you ask them to stop they're not going
to know how much you want them to stop. Anger is a well-developed social
convention which tells other people when they've gone too far.

    Mark



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