From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Mon Aug 30 1999 - 19:48:30 MDT
Dear friends,
The recent postings on the transhuman list I would like to bring to the
table and discuss. Several posters have made harsh statements that the
extropian list is basically a Libertarian politically steered list.
In that I am not a Libertarian (party member), I found this an inaccurate
assessment.
I thought that the Extropian List was for discussing and debating many,
many issues, but it seems that there are a few individuals who think it is
primarily to promote Libertarian beliefs and a bit dogmatic in such
statements.
I think it is an issue that might be addressed.
Some comments are as follows:
"I also remember very distinctly some of the older, founding
members promoting the idea that the Extropians list was founded
for the purpose of being a refuge from debate about Libertarianism
(and several other non-political points) rather than a forum for
endlessly debating its merit."
* * *
"I abandoned the extropian list (as did one other person I know) because it
was impossible to have a reasonable discussion without it being
sidetracked, and because I couldn't resist the urge to comment on the
libertarian
statements made there."
* * *
"I found that the Libertarianism there seems to be held almost like a
religious
faith. It was promoted endlessly, but challenging it was clearly unwelcome.
I found this state of affairs rather curious. The Extropians usually
exhibited
considerable skepticism and critical thinking when addressing virtually any
topic other than their Libertarian political ideology, which seemed to be
held
sacred and closed to questioning."
* * *
End of snipped quotes.
This confuses me a bit because I thought that Extropy Institute does not
promote any particular political party. If many discussions have been on
libertarian ideas, this is one thing, but for to claim that it is
dominating the list is suspect to me.
I look forward to responses from Max and Greg on this.
Best,
Natasha
Natasha Vita-More: http://www.natasha.cc
**NOW the book is available! _Create/Recreate: The Third Millennial Culture_**
http://www.extropic-art.com/createrecreate.htm
Organizations: Transhumanist Arts Centre - Home of Extropic Art:
http://www.extropic-art.com
Transhuman Culture InfoMark: http://www.transhuman.org
Natasha Vita-More Productions
"We are transhumans ..." Meme Orbits Saturn in 2004!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:04:57 MST