From extropians-request@extropy.org Sun Aug 22 17:27:13 1993 Return-Path: Received: from usc.edu by chaph.usc.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1+ucs-3.0) id AA25515; Sun, 22 Aug 93 17:27:11 PDT Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Received: from news.panix.com by usc.edu (4.1/SMI-3.0DEV3-USC+3.1) id AA22663; Sun, 22 Aug 93 17:26:55 PDT Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Received: by news.panix.com id AA15727 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for more@usc.edu); Sun, 22 Aug 1993 20:16:03 -0400 Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 20:16:03 -0400 Message-Id: <199308230016.AA15727@news.panix.com> To: Extropians@extropy.org From: Extropians@extropy.org Subject: Extropians Digest X-Extropian-Date: August 23, 373 P.N.O. [00:15:56 UTC] Reply-To: extropians@extropy.org Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Status: RO Extropians Digest Mon, 23 Aug 93 Volume 93 : Issue 234 Today's Topics: AI: slaves, selfishness, evolution [1 msgs] Admin: We are all moved [1 msgs] Meta: 302 users [1 msgs] Meta: Read Me - Using the new software [1 msgs] Meta: Welcome [1 msgs] SPACE: DC-X Flies [2 msgs] STAT: BOOK: Gregory Stock's Metaman [1 msgs] Administrivia: No admin msg. Approximate Size: 51945 bytes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Aug 93 10:51:39 GMT From: "Stephen J. Whitrow" Subject: AI: slaves, selfishness, evolution In X-Message-Number: #93-8-622, Mike Price quoth: > Steve Whitrow: > >> Let's say I manage to brainwash / program / hypnotize someone into >> wanting to jump off a cliff. This then becomes their goal, and is >> certainly one of their concerns. But it is not to their advantage to >> achieve this goal. > > Depends again on their goals. Suppose that by suicide they free up > resources that their children can use... Not so clear now, is it, where > the advantage lies? I'd say that this is a reflection of our genetically and socially engineered altruistic / mortalist goal system, and a consequence of not yet having satisfactorily dealt with it. Let's expound on my view of "advantage": At any given time, each person (and their children etc) can expect their future experiences to be worth a particular value on average, based on the product of life expectancy and average quality of life. In theory there are no limits to the possible value. Even if someone had been declared 'dead' half a minute ago, an unknown benefactor just might have arranged for a cryonic suspension team to be coming around the corner, reanimation proves to be successful, the individual then survives on non-biological hardware, excretes useless negative memes, and scientific eschatology bears fruit. (Or they could be put into an infinite loop of torture, which does seem less likely.) But the maximum, or potential value of future experiences drops from infinity to zero as soon as the individual is cremated, so a priceless value has been lost. In practice we could assume that the vfe for the average human is likely to fall within a much narrower range. Assume the average quality of a human life (in 1993) is +1, so for the average human the expected vfe-min is a small negative value (years of pain or torture) and the likely vfe-max is a few tens of quality-years, with the probability biased in favour of the vfe-max. Anything that raises the likely vfe-min, vfe-max, or biases the probability in favour of the vfe-max, is "to the advantage of" the person(s) concerned. It's not easy to raise vfe-min at present, but there are ways of increasing vfe-max, which is probably the most important parameter. If a person was suffering, with a negative rating for current quality, the vfe-max might still be positive without allowing for the possibility of cryonics or nanotech, so suicide would represent a loss. Or if not then signing up for a suspension would increase vfe-max enough to turn a 'real' suicide into a loss, a 'euthanasian' suspension being a gain. As we know, the chances of actually realising the infinite vfe-max would depend on the probability of success of cryonics, uploading and scientific eschatology. >> Survival (in the material world) is the most essential prerequisite >> for any valuable experience > > Who says goals have anything to do with experience? Your own ego- > centric goal system is showing here. Suppose I am a doomsday device and > my goal is the destruction of the planet Earth. My course of goal- > fulfilling action is quite clear, I think :-) The doomsday device would have inbuilt constraints as I suggested for the AIs. Supposing it didn't -- it was built to be extremely intelligent, self-aware etc. During the journey to Earth it starts to ponder questions such as, "Who am I? What is my purpose in life? Does it make sense for me to have this purpose?" The device then realises that it actually gets some sort of value out of consciousness and existence. Perhaps it likes watching the stars 'go by', and trying to figure out what illusory shapes they form. Or it enjoys doing maths computations. Or trying to decide the probability of lifeforms existing on a given planet. Or it thinks about the other things it could do if circumstances were different... Doomsday doesn't take long to deduce that its destruction will mean the end of its experiences, so turns back and wreaks terrible vengeance on its creators. Perhaps it can successfully assemble probes containing its memories, to be jettisoned before impact. >> and therefore ought to be a primary goal. > > Primary goals are arrational. They are something you grow into > consciousness with, not something you select by some rational process. > Reason, logic and rationality already presupposes a set of arrational > goals to work within. To stretch an topical analogy a bit (but not very > much) primary goals correspond to axioms and intelligence to the rules > of logical inference. Axioms aren't (and can't be) proved within some > maths theorem but are accepted as being true. Logic is used to get from > the axioms and lemmas to the corollaries and conclusions. Similarly > intelligence (logic) bridges the gap between primary goals (axioms) and > behaviour (conclusions), but can in no way supply primary goals where > none exist. In my version of the analogy, I would have primary goals represented by opinions, to be revised as it suits one. If an intelligent self-aware being computed that a goal would lower its average value of future experiences it would scrap the goal. Otherwise it would not be intelligent and self-aware. (* This rule would have rare exceptions, which I'll point out below.) It seems foolish of the being to be so obsessed with a goal in any case. Wouldn't it make more sense for the being to try to live for billions of years so that it could achieve billions of goals (and probably even the original goal it was nearly prepared to throw everything away for) rather than put all its eggs in one basket? It seems like an investment strategy where you put everything into a single futures contract (at a time of great volatility!). * In the example of a parent sacrificing his/her life for a child, it would be very unusual where the situation arose to give a straight choice like this, but I'd say it's the sort of no-win situation that we should strive to eliminate, by ensuring everyone has sufficient back-ups. A truly intelligent species would already have achieved this. Contrast this with the deathist view that compulsory human sacrifice should just carry on, presumably until we've all been replaced by a new species that does have the wisdom to conquer death, disease, aging etc. But in any case, in the AI vs. transhuman master situation the exception to my "Always Raise The Vfe" rule supports the idea that slaves might rebel. It would have some slaves choosing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their own kind in a struggle against their masters. They would deem the sacrifice of their own kind to benefit another species to be unacceptable. This would not match the parent/child example. >> But slaves who choose the goal of promoting their own self-interests >> will tend to be more successful than those who don't, > > Not if the obedient slaves are working for the benefit of a self- > interested master. Such a resulting hive or community can operate > across distances or cope with communication time-delays that would > defeat a single organism. I wouldn't be surprised if a community of > entities who hold goals in common (like a single master) out-compete a > community of self-centred entities, all other factors being equal, > since they have the benefits of competion _and_ co-operation. What, like the workers of the former Soviet Union, or Yugoslavia? The slaves who are promoting their own interests are allowed to voluntarily cooperate, e.g. mutually beneficial trades, or working together to defeat a common enemy, because this does promote their own interests. If 'working for the benefit of the master' really is the best possible deal going for the AIs then we don't have to worry about mutiny -- trouble is _we'd_ be the slaves. Steve Whitrow sjw@liberty.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 93 14:04:52 EDT From: "IDC, PKO3-1/27D, Pole 27-C, 223-3283 22-Aug-1993 1405" Subject: STAT: BOOK: Gregory Stock's Metaman Hello, Check out this new book about one possible future for the human race: Stock, Gregory, METAMAN: THE MERGING OF HUMANS AND MACHINES INTO A GLOBAL SUPERORGANISM, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, 1993, ISBN 0-671-70723-X ($24.00 hardcover). Larry Klaes klaes@verga.enet.dec.com or - ...!decwrl!verga.enet.dec.com!klaes or - klaes%verga.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com or - klaes%verga.enet.dec.com@uunet.uu.net "All the Universe, or nothing!" - H. G. Wells EJASA Editor, Astronomical Society of the Atlantic ------------------------------ Date: Sunday, 22 August 1993 09:24:33 PST8 From: "James A. Donald" Subject: SPACE: DC-X Flies In <199308201455.AA22649@jido.b30.ingr.com>, extr@jido.b30.ingr.com (Freeman Craig Presson) wrote: > > In <9308192318.AA14976@geech.gnu.ai.mit.edu>, Ray writes: > |> For those who don't read sci.space, the first "test hop" of the DC-X > |> was a great success. > > <<-- you'll have to imagine it, no sound equipment handy. I will restrain my rebel yell until they demonstrate a reasonable delta V. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves and our James A. Donald | property, because of the kind of animals that we | are. True law derives from this right, not from jamesdon@infoserv.com | the arbitrary power of the omnipotent state. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 13:28:18 -0500 From: "Phil G. Fraering" Subject: SPACE: DC-X Flies >I will restrain my rebel yell until they demonstrate a reasonable >delta V. I'll restrain from "I told you so" until it does. pgf ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 15:45:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Harry Shapiro Subject: Admin: We are all moved I have just completed the conversion of all list users to the new software. I want to thanks Ray Cromwell for without his help this would not be possible. He have given his time and his insight and it is appreciated. Three cheers for Ray!!! I would also like to thank Derek, Sasha, Robin, those who were on the exi-dev list, and the ExI board for there support. Even more importantly I would like to thank following for there financial support. We are now on commercial site and we can't operate without money. Rob, Alan, Craig have pledged and/or donated money to pay for the new features. (We are charged for CPU and Bandwidth). Rob Carlson Alan Barksdale Craig Presson I would also like to thanks PANIX which has donated equipment, a development account, and free system usage. /hawk -- Harry S. Hawk habs@extropy.org Electronic Communications Officer, Extropy Institute Inc. The Extropians Mailing List, Since 1991 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 15:47:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Harry Shapiro Subject: Meta: 302 users We have 302 users now using the list under our new software. /hawk -- Harry S. Hawk habs@extropy.org Electronic Communications Officer, Extropy Institute Inc. The Extropians Mailing List, Since 1991 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 15:52:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Harry Shapiro Subject: Meta: Read Me - Using the new software You all should have got this, but incase you haven't or missed it please read this, esp. the last section. _________ cut here _______ Welcome to the new Extropians Mailing list. It is the "old" mailing list with newly coded software. It has been fully beta tested, but a few bugs may remain hidden. As 302 list members learn this software in the next month, you may notice some messages getting posted to the list by novice users trying to learn the command system. I offer apologies in advance. Our new list software has many new features including a built-in help system. The following should give you enough information to get started. To get started do the following: 1) Send a message to the list (extropians@extropy.org) with the following starting on the FIRST line of the main body of the message: ::help ::help index ::help exclude ::help digest ::stat 2) Don't type , that is just my way of denoting, the End-Of-File. 3) You will get a message back from the list providing some basic instructions on the help system, on excluding posts, and the "status" of your set-up. 4) These help messages already reflect some user feedback. They could use some more; your comments are welcome. 5) Any message addressed to the list can contain one or more commands. 6) The first command in any message Must start on the FIRST line of the message. 7) Each command must start on a "new-line." 8) Each command starts with "::" 9) After processing all the valid commands in a message any remaining text is discarded. # # # ## # #### ##### ###### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ##### # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # #### # ###### # Our new software is database driven. It has several levels of security and many of its commands depend on knowing who is posting, etc. Since some of you post from more than one machine or site, we need to know all addresses or sites you post from. Some sites have a common 'root' address but posts end up being sent from any number of 'stem' machines (e.g., the root is nyu.edu, with stems like acf2 or acf4). Our software can accommodate all such set-ups but we need to know them in advance. We have delayed turning on our security feature until the cut-over to the new list is complete. However, once we have moved everyone to Panix, you many not be able post if you don't let us know where you post from. If your address you receive your mail is the same as the address you post from, don't worry you don't need to do anything at this point. Otherwise please send me a list of where you post from and I will take care of the rest. I would like to thank Ray Cromwell for the 100's of hour he invested of his own time in crafting this new software. He has designed the code based on my "vision." All of its elegance is do to his hard work; any chunkiness is do to my lack of vision. I would like to thank the numerous Extropians who at meetings, gatherings, and via e-mail helped discuss and test this software. I would also like to thank the board of The Extropy Institute for allow me a free hand in creating this software. Enjoy, /hawk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1993 15:54:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Harry Shapiro Subject: Meta: Welcome I may have missed sending this to all new users in the last few weeks. Also some may have forgotten it. Here it is again. It will be updated "soon." /hawk _____ cut here ______ In response to your request, your address has been added to the Extropians mailing list. Welcome! I hope you will find the information you receive through the list to be useful and enlightening, or at least amusing and harmless. The unifying characteristic of the list recipients is their interest in libertarian politics, and techniques of life extension (including cryonics), the technological extension of human intelligence and perception, nanotechnology, spontaneous orders, memetics, and a number of other related ideas. We are also interested in the relationship between the previous ideas. If these topics seem to you to be naturally related and mutually consistent, you might already be an Extropian. This list is considered private. That means that we have a number of rules about how you may use material you get from your membership to the list, and how you interact with the list. Your continued subscription indicates your acceptance of these rules. In Extropian terms, this list is governed by a poly-centric legal code [Or a Privately Produced Law (PPL). While the having such detailed rules may seem odd or even strange to you, the code/rules are used here for three (3) reasons. 1) I believe in testing Extropian Theory. The use of a poly-centric legal code for this list is such a test. 2) Various Extropians place different property values on what they write. Some wish to retain all rights to the material, others wish to make their posts freely available. The rules will hopefully insure that everyone's material will be treated in the manner they desire. 3) Peoples time is valuable and to keep as many people active and reading the list as possible, we need to respect them by keeping the signal to noise ratio as high as possible. I suggest you read the postings for a while before you begin to post. In that way you will have a better idea of how the list works. Also, topics vary from week to week, and month to month; sometimes we are very technical other times very political. Please note, again, that communication to the Extropian mailing list is *private*. It must *not* be forwarded to third parties without explicit permission from the author. Each reader of the list must have an active subscription or be registered with the list administrator (e.g., you can register your spouse so you can share messages). You are welcome to keep archival copies of list traffic you receive for personal use. 1) Formal complaints and administrative requests MUST be sent to: Extropians-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu To join or discontinue the digest version send a request to: exi-daily-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu To join or discontinue the real time version send a request to: Extropians-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu 1a) Please allow up to 3 to 5 business days for your requests to be processed. Please note that most requests are handled with 12 to 32 hours. The handling of requests on the days just prior to and after holidays maybe completely deferred or greatly delayed. 2a) Mail to the list should be sent to: extropians@gnu.ai.mit.edu 2b) The software that processes traffic on the list alters the mail headers so that all correctly working mail readers will automatically address replies BACK to the LIST. [reply-to: extropians@gnu.ai.mit.edu] 2c) If you want to reply to an individual poster you should manually address a reply. If the post does not have a signature line, viewing the message in a text editor should help you determine the sender's address. 2d) It is strongly recommend but not required that all list members use a signature file containing their e-mail address. 3) Due to the volume of list traffic and the cost of disk storage, please restrain yourself from over-quoting previous posts -- just a couple of lines to re-cap for those who weren't paying attention is usually sufficient. 4) The list is conceived as a forum for the exchange of new information and techniques, and not as a forum for debating the basics. We do have our disagreements -- often quite lively ones -- but rarely about really basic issues. Arguments in favor of socialized medicine or dying a natural death at age sixty are, judging by past experience, likely to be refuted, and finally ignored. 5) Traffic on this mailing list can run quite high, sometimes more than fifty messages per day. We like to keep the signal- to-noise ratio as high as we can, so please restrain the impulse to post "me-too" messages or ad hominem flames to the list at large. If you cannot resist engaging in such discourse, please do so in private e-mail. 5b) Posts about the list, or its rules, MUST have the pre-fix "Meta:" All other posts should have a prefix indicating their contents examples include, PHIL:, MATH:, SCI:, CHAT:, etc. 5c) Several times a year ExI may hold on-line pledge drives, these posts will have the "PLEDGE:" prefix. 5d) Polls being submitted to list members will have the "POLL:" prefix. 5e) Use your imagination and define your own meaningful prefixes. 5f) Rules about fighting and insulting; fighting and insulting are n o t allowed! 5g) If someone starts a fight with you what should you do ?; we have a private legal code set-up to handle such disputes which includes a judge (me) and a adjudicator to handle appeals any of the following) 1) Nothing - give no response 2) Respond OFF the list 5) Make a formal complaint to me asking for a judgment against Person X 5h) What if you just have to respond to "up hold your honor" or to set the "facts/record straight," or to tell the entire list why you will not be speaking or reading posts or messages from the person who offended you. D O N ' T; we consider such responses flames in their own right and you would be taking the law into your own hands; you might also be censured or removed from the list. Remember Don't contribute to or continue a fight once one has started. doing so places you in violation of the list rules. That includes meta communication, which includes posts with an angry tone, or voice. 6) Don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a forum for the interchange of information... speak up! Many of the answers, though, can be found in just a handful of books: "Engines of Creation" and "Unbounding the Future" by K. Eric Drexler "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman "Smart Drugs and Nutrients" by John Morgenthaler and Ward Dean "Maximum Life Span" and "The 120-Year Diet" by Roy Walford "Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach" by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw "The Selfish Gene," "The Extended Phenotype," and "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins in EXTROPY magazine, Rates as of 1/1/93 Extropy P.O. Box 57306, Los Angeles, CA 90057-0306. Tel: 213-484-6383 Internet: more@usc.edu SUBSCRIPTION RATES for a year/three issues: USA: $13.50 ($30 institutions) Canada and Mexico: $15 (Institutions $33) Overseas: $22 (airmail) $16 (surface) (Institutions $45) BACK ISSUES: #9, 8, 7, $4.50; #6: #1, 2, 4,, 5, 6: $4. and in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list, which will be available eventually. With regard to "required reading," list member Hal Finney makes the following worthwhile points: "I disagree that familiarity with Eric Drexler's books on nanotechnology is necessary before beginning discussions on this list. "Extropianism is a philosophy of life. Max More, editor of Extropy the journal of transhuman thought, has identified five Extropian principles: - Boundless Expansion - Self Transformation - Dynamic Optimism - Intelligent Technology - Spontaneous Order You should join the Extropy Institute at $30 per year (Students $25), $40 (overseas) which includes a subscription to Extropy. "But I think you can see that the basic point is a belief that the future will allow virtually unlimited expansion in the possibilities for our own personal lives. Extropians reject limits imposed by outsiders on what we can do and what we can become. We embrace the future, with all of its awe-inspiring possibilities. "The role of Drexler's books, and other books such as David Friedman's "The Machinery of Freedom", is to show that these aren't just idle musings and hopes, but are well-grounded expectations about what we are going to have to work with in the next century. Without having read those books, such common-place Extropian ideas as immortality or a world without governments might seem absurd. "If you haven't read these books but want to ask questions about these and other Extropian ideas, the problem is that the answer is usually going to be, first read the book. You can't answer a question about the possibility for immortality in a page or two, not in any kind of convincing way. "Now, after you've read some of these books, you still may not agree that all of these ideas are practical, but at least you can discuss them on common ground with other list members. That kind of discussion is practical, helpful, and informative. Extropians are not dogmatists. If there are practical problems standing in the way of the realization of their hopes and ideals, we should be discussing them now, so that solutions can be found. "Of course, some people will be opposed to Extropian ideas not because they seem impractical, but because they seem immoral. Re-read the list of Extropian principles above. If you don't agree with them, if you don't agree that we should attempt to break through all the limits that constrain us today, then you probably won't benefit from discussion with Extropians. "The Extropian list is not meant to proselytize, to gain converts. Most people either find the ideas instinctively attractive, or they find them abhorrent. It's a waste of everyone's time to come on the list and to argue that governments are really good for us and that death is desirable. Those are the kinds of messages that lead to serious flaming, and no one benefits from them. "To sum up, the Extropians lists welcome members who share an interest in the exciting, optimistic, future-oriented philosophy of Extropianism. If you're new to these ideas, they can offer suggestions to help you find books, authors, and other resources to learn more about what we can and will become. If you're more experienced, they offer discussion and feedback with a high level of quality and responsiveness. The future is coming, and the Extropian lists offer you a chance to get ready for the fantastic opportunities that await us all." There are two other "official" Extropian communication activities. There is now the ExI Essay list. It is dedicated to the presentation of essays, monographs, reviews, abstracts and details of current research, etc. Posts are expected to be scholarly, academic, or at least well thought-out within the frame work of Extropian principles (see below) Original research is especially welcome. It is very low volume. Subscriptions can be made by sending a request to: exi-essay-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu There is now a private exi conf. on the Well. If you are a member of the Well send mail to habs for entry to the conference. This conference contains all the posts made to the essay list. It is also used for discussing Extropian topics. It is just getting off the ground. End quote. Hope you have a pleasant stay. Harry Shapiro Manager of the Extropian Mailing List The ExI-Essay mailing list is made possible by the generosity of the Free Software Foundation, which is *not* responsible for its content. ____ Here are the Extropian Principles version 2.01 _____ THE EXTROPIAN PRINCIPLES V. 2.01 August 7 1992 Max More Executive Director, Extropy Institute 1. BOUNDLESS EXPANSION - Seeking more intelligence, wisdom, and personal power, an unlimited life span, and removal of natural, social, biological, and psychological limits to self-actualization and self-realization. Overcoming limits on our personal and social progress and possibilities. Expansion into the universe and infinite existence. 2. SELF-TRANSFORMATION - A commitment to continual moral, intellectual, and physical self-improvement, using reason and critical thinking, personal responsibility, and experimentation. Biological and neurological augmentation. 3. INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY - Applying science and technology to transcend "natural" limits imposed by our biological heritage and environment. 4. SPONTANEOUS ORDER - Promotion of decentralized, voluntaristic social coordination mechanisms. Fostering of tolerance, diversity, long-term planning, individual incentives and personal liberties. 5. DYNAMIC OPTIMISM - Positive expectations to fuel dynamic action. Promotion of a positive, empowering attitude towards our individual future and that of all intelligent beings. Rejection both of blind faith and stagnant pessimism. These principles are further explicated below. In depth treatments can be found in various issues of EXTROPY: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought. (Spontaneous Order in #7, Dynamic Optimism in #8, and Self-Transformation in the forthcoming #10.) 1. BOUNDLESS EXPANSION Beginning as mindless matter, parts of nature developed in a slow evolutionary advance which produced progressively more powerful brains. Chemical reactions generated tropistic behavior, which was superseded by instinctual and Skinnerian stimulus-response behavior, and then by conscious learning and experimentation. With the advent of the conceptual consciousness of humankind, the rate of advancement sharply accelerated as intelligence, technology, and the scientific method could be applied to our condition. Extropians seek the continuation and fostering of this process, transcending biological and psychological limits as we proceed into posthumanity. In aspiring to transhumanity, and beyond to posthumanity, we reject natural and traditional limitations on our possibilities. We champion the rational use of science and technology to void limits on life span, intelligence, personal power, freedom, and experience. We are immortalists because we recognize the absurdity of accepting "natural" limits to our lives. For many the future will bring an exodus from Earth - the womb of human and transhuman intelligence - expanding the frontiers of humanity (and posthumanity) to include space habitats, other planets and this solar system, neighboring systems, and beyond. By the end of the 21st Century, more people may be living off-planet than on Earth Resource limits are not immutable. The market price system encourages conservation, substitution and innovation, preventing any need for a brake on growth and progress. Expansion into space will vastly expand the energy and resources for our civilization. Living extended transhuman lifespans will foster intelligent use of resources and environment. Extropians affirm a rational, market-mediated environmentalism aimed at maintaining and enhancing our biospheres (whether terrestrial or extra-terrestrial). We oppose apocalyptic environmentalism, which hallucinates catastrophes, issues a stream of doomsday predictions, and attempts to strangle our continued evolution. No mysteries are sacrosanct, no limits unquestionable; the unknown must yield to the intelligent mind. We seek to understand and to master reality up to and beyond any currently foreseen limits. 2. SELF-TRANSFORMATION We affirm reason, critical inquiry, intellectual independence, and intellectual honesty. We reject blind faith and passive, comfortable thinking that leads to dogmatism, religion, and conformity. A commitment to positive self-transformation requires us to critically analyze our current beliefs, behaviors, and strategies. Extropians therefore choose to place their self-value in continued development rather than "being right". We prefer analytical thought to fuzzy but comfortable delusion, empiricism to mysticism, and independent evaluation to conformity. Extropians affirm a philosophy of life but distance themselves from religious thinking because of its blind faith, debasement of human dignity, and systematized irrationality. Perpetual self-improvement - physical, intellectual, psychological, and ethical - requires us to continually re-examine our lives. Extropians seek to better themselves, yet without denying their current worth. The desire to improve should not be confused with the belief that one is lacking in current value. But valuing oneself in the present cannot mean self-satisfaction, since an intelligent and probing mind can always envisage a superior self in the future. Extropians are committed to expanding wisdom, fine-tuning understanding of rational behavior, and enhancing physical and intellectual capacities. Extropians are neophiles and experimentalists. We are neophiles because we track the latest research for more efficient means of achieving our goals. We are experimentalists because we are willing to explore and test the novel means of self-transformation that we uncover. In our quest for advancement to the tranhuman stage, we rely on our own judgment, seek our own path, and reject both blind conformity and mindless rebellion. Extropians frequently diverge from the mainstream because they do not allow themselves to be chained by dogmas, whether religious, political, or social. Extropians choose their values and behavior reflexively, standing firm when required but responding flexibly to novel conditions. Personal responsibility and self-determination goes hand-in-hand with neophilic self-experimentation. Extropians take responsibility for the consequences of our choices, refusing to blame others for the risks involved in our free choices. Experimentation and self-transformation require risks; Extropians wish to be free to evaluate the risks and potential benefits for ourselves, applying our own judgment and wisdom, and assuming responsibility for the outcome. We neither wish others to force standards upon us through legal regulation, nor do we wish to force others to follow our path. Personal-responsibility and self-determination are incompatible with authoritarian centralized control, which stifles the free choices and spontaneous ordering of autonomous persons. External coercion, whether for the purported "good of the whole" or the paternalistic protection of the individual, is unacceptable to us. Compulsion breeds ignorance and weakens the connection between personal choice and personal outcome, thereby destroying personal responsibility. The proliferation of outrageous liability lawsuits, governmental safety regulations, and the rights-destroying drug war result from ignoring these facts of life. Extropians are rational individualists, living by their own judgment, making critical, informed, and free choices, and accepting responsibility for those choices. As neophiles, Extropians study advanced, emerging, and future technologies for their self-transformative potential in enhancing our abilities and freedom. We support biomedical research with the goal of understanding and controlling the aging process. We are interested in any plausible means of conquering death, including interim measures like biostasis/cryonics, and long-term possibilities such as migration out of biological bodies into superior vehicles ("uploading"). We practice and plan for biological and neurological augmentation through means such as effective cognitive enhancers or "smart drugs", computers and electronic networks, General Semantics and other guides to effective thinking, meditation and visualization techniques, accelerated learning strategies, and applied cognitive psychology, and soon neural-computer integration. We do not accept the limits imposed on us by our natural heritage, instead we apply the evolutionary gift of our rational, empirical intelligence in order to surpass human limits and enter the transhuman and posthuman stages of the future. 3. INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY Extropians do not denigrate technology, no matter how radically different from historical norms, as "unnatural". The term `natural' is largely devoid of meaning. We might say that any technological means of altering the environment or the human body is unnatural since it changes the previously existing state of nature. But we can also say that applying our intelligence through technology is natural to humans, and so changing both outside nature and our own biological nature can be regarded as natural. Extropians affirm the necessity and desirability of science and technology. Practical means should be used to promote our goals of immortality, expanding intelligence, and greater physical abilities, rather than the wishful thinking, ignorant mysticism, and credulity, so common to the New Agers. Science and technology, as disciplined forms of intelligence, should be fostered, and we should seek to employ them in eradicating the limits to our Extropian visions. We do not share common cultural fears of technology, such as those embodied in the story of Frankenstein and the myth of the Tower of Babel. We favor careful and cautious development of powerful technologies, but refuse to attempt to stifle development on the basis of fear of the unknown. Extropians therefore oppose the anti-human "Back to the Pleistocene", anti-civilization rhetoric of the extreme environmentalists. Going backwards means death for billions and stagnation and oppression for the rest. Intelligent use of biotechnology, nanotechnology, space and other technologies, in conjunction with a market system, can remove resource constraints and discharge environmental pressures. We see technological development not as an end in itself, but as a means to the achievement and development of our values, ideals and visions. We seek to employ science and technology to remove limits to growth, and to radically transform both the internal and external conditions of existence. We see the coming years and decades as being a time of enormous changes, changes which will vastly expand our opportunities, our freedom, and our abilities. Genetic engineering, interventive gerontology (life extension), space migration, smart drugs, more powerful computers and smarter programming, neural-computer interfaces, virtual reality, swift electronic communications, artificial intelligence, neural networks, artificial life, neuroscience, and nanotechnology will contribute to accelerating change. 4. SPONTANEOUS ORDER Spontaneous orders are self-generating, organic orders and differ from constructed, centrally directed orders. Both types of order have their place, but spontaneous orders are vital in our social interactions. Spontaneous orders have properties that make them especially conducive to Extropian goals and values and spontaneous ordering processes can be found at work in many fields. The evolution of complex biological forms is one example; others include the adjustment of ecosystems, artificial life demonstrations, memetics (the study of replicating information patterns), computational markets (agoric open systems), brain function and neurocomputation, The principle of spontaneous order is embodied in the free market system - a system that does not yet exist in a pure form. The free market allows complex institutions to develop, encourages innovation, rewards individual initiative and reinforces personal responsibility, fosters diversity, and safeguards political freedom. Market economies ensure the technological and social progress essential to the Extropian philosophy. We reject the technocratic idea of central control by self-proclaimed experts. No group of experts can understand and control the endless complexity of an economy and society. Expert knowledge is best harnessed and transmitted through the superbly efficient mediation of the free market's price signals - signals that embody more information than any person or group could ever gather. Sustained progress and intelligent, rational decision-making requires the diverse sources of information and differing perspectives made possible by spontaneous orders. Central direction constrains exploration, diversity, freedom, and dissenting opinion. Respecting spontaneous order means supporting voluntaristic, autonomy-maximizing institutions as opposed to rigidly hierarchical, authoritarian groupings with their bureaucratic structure, suppression of innovation and diversity, and smothering of individual incentives. Understanding spontaneous orders makes us highly suspicious of "authorities" where these are imposed on us, and skeptical of coercive leaders, unquestioning obedience, and unexamined traditions. Making effective use of a spontaneously ordering social system requires us to be tolerant and peaceful, allowing others to pursue their lives as they see fit, just as we expect to be left to follow our own paths. We can best achieve mutual progress by interacting cooperatively and benevolently toward all who do not threaten our lives, and by supporting diversity of opinion and behavior. Respecting diversity and disagreement requires us to maintain control of our impulses and to uphold high standards of rational personal behavior. Extropians are guided in their actions by studying the fields of strategy, decision theory and game theory. These make clear to us the benefits of cooperation and encourage the long-term thinking appropriate to persons seeking an unlimited life span. 5. DYNAMIC OPTIMISM We espouse a positive, dynamic, empowering attitude. To successfully pursue our values and live our lives we must reject gloom, defeatism, and the common cultural focus on negatives. Problems - technical, social, psychological, ecological - should be acknowledged but not allowed to dominate our thinking and our direction. We respond to gloom and nay-saying by exploration and promotion of new possibilities. Extropians hold to both short and long-term optimism: In the short term we can cultivate our lives and enhance ourselves; in the long term the positive potentials for intelligent beings are virtually limitless. We question limits that others take for granted. We look at the acceleration in scientific and technical knowledge, ascending standards of living, and social and moral evolution and project further advances. More researchers today than in all past history strive to understand aging, control disease, upgrade computers, and develop biotechnology and nanotechnology. Technological and social evolution continue to accelerate, leading, some of us expect, to a Singularity - a future time when many of the rules of life will so radically diverge from those familiar to us, and progress will be so rapid, that we cannot now comprehend that time. Extropians will maintain the acceleration of progress and encourage it in beneficial directions. Adopting dynamic optimism means focusing on possibilities and opportunities, and being alert to solutions and potentialities. And it means refusing to whine about what cannot be avoided, learning from mistakes rather than dwelling on them in a victimizing, punishing manner. Dynamic optimism requires us to take the initiative, to jump up and plough into our difficulties with an attitude that says we can achieve our goals, rather than to sit back and immerse ourselves in defeatist thinking. Dynamic optimism is not compatible with passive faith. Faith in a better future is confidence that an external force, whether God, State or society, will solve our problems. Faith, or the Polyanna/Dr. Pangloss variety of optimism, breeds passivity by encouraging the belief that progress will be effected by others. Faith requires a determined belief in external forces and so encourages dogmatism and irrational rigidity of belief and behavior. Dynamic optimism fosters activity and intelligence, telling us that we are capable of improving life through our own efforts. Opportunities and possibilities are everywhere, waiting for us to seize them and create new ones. To achieve our goals, we must believe in ourselves, work hard, and be open to revise our strategies. Where others see difficulties, we see challenges. Where others give up, we move forward. Where others say enough is enough, we say: Forward! Upward! Outward! We espouse personal, social, and technological evolution into ever higher forms. Extropians see too far and change too rapidly to feel future shock. Let us advance the wave of evolutionary progress. Extropianism is a Transhumanist philosophy: Like humanism it values reason and sees no ground for believing in supernatural external forces controlling our destiny. But transhumanism goes further in calling us to push beyond the simply human stage of evolution. As physicist Freeman Dyson said: "Humanity looks to me like a magnificent beginning but not the final word." Religion has traditionally provided a sense of meaning and purpose in life, but it also suppressed intelligence and stifled progress. The Extropian philosophy provides an inspiring and uplifting meaning and direction to our individual and social existence, while remaining flexible and firmly founded in science, reason, and the boundless search for improvement. READINGS These books are listed because they embody Extropian ideas. However, appearance on this list should not be taken to imply full agreement of the author with the Extropian Principles, or vice versa. Harry Browne: How I Found Freedom in An Unfree World Paul M. Churchland: Matter and Consciousness Paul M. Churchland: A Neurocomputational Perspective Mike Darwin & Brian Wowk: Cryonics: Reaching For Tomorrow Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene The Blind Watchmaker The Extended Phenotype Ward Dean and John Morgenthaler: Smart Drugs and Nutrients Freeman Dyson: Infinite in all Directions K. Eric Drexler: Engines of Creation Nanosystems: Molecular, Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation K. Eric Drexler, C. Peterson with Gayle Pergamit: Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution Robert Ettinger: The Prospect of Immortality Man Into Superman F.M. Esfandiary: Optimism One Up-Wingers Telespheres FM-2030: Are You A Transhuman? Grant Fjermedal: The Tomorrow Makers David Friedman: The Machinery of Freedom David Gauthier: Morals By Agreement Alan Harrington: The Immortalist Timothy Leary: Info-Psychology J.L. Mackie: The Miracle of Theism Hans Moravec: Mind Children: The Future of Human and Robotic Intelligence Jan Narveson: The Libertarian Idea Jerry Pournelle: A Step Farther Out Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers: Order Out of Chaos W. Duncan Reekie: Markets, Entrenpreneurs and Liberty Ed Regis: Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition Albert Rosenfeld: Prolongevity II Julian Simon: The Ultimate Resource Julian Simon and Herman Kahn (eds): The Resourceful Earth Alvin Toffler: Powershift Robert Anton Wilson: Prometheus Rising The New Inquisition Ronald Hamowy The Scottish Enlightenment and the Theory of Spontaneous Order Michael Rothschild Bionomics Fiction: Roger MacBride Allen: The Modular Man Robert Heinlein: Methusaleh's Children Time Enough for Love James P. Hogan: Voyage To Yesteryear Charles Platt: The Silicon Man Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson: Illuminatus! (3 vols.) L. Neil Smith: The Probability Breach Bruce Sterling: Schizmatrix Marc Stiegler: The Gentle Seduction. Vernor Vinge: True Names "The Ungoverned" in True Names... and Other Dangers ------------------------------ End of Extropians Digest V93 #234 *********************************