----- Original Message -----
From: Robin Hanson <rhanson@gmu.edu>
To: <extropians@extropy.com>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2000 1:57 PM
Subject: Re: The Value of Extremists
> Think of the analogy of wearing suits. A simple story
> about wearing suits at work is that there are a few
> bozos out there who refuse, and they aren't desirable
> workers. So everyone else distinguishes themselves
> from these bozos by wearing a suit, even though they
> don't like it. If there weren't such bozos, there
> wouldn't be a need to wear suits, and everyone would
> be happier.
Sort of. If you have a smoothly running profitable operation, then that is a
good strategy. But if your organization is hitting bottom, and you need to
bring in some fresh blood to invigorate it, then yes, hire the long haired
radical. The long haired is going to rethink things, come up with new ideas,
instead of just going along with the way things have always been done.
There is a place for all different kinds of people in society.
> Similarly with ideas, the reason most people I know
> resist exploring extreme ideas is that the only people
> they've seen exploring them are these bozos they do
> not want others to confuse them with. So they back
> off, even though they find the ideas intrinsically
> interesting. Just yesterday I talked with a very
> smart colleague who did not want to hear about nanotech
> because once years ago some idiot at a party cornered
> him and blathered on and on about it with very
> poorly conceived ideas and arguments.
And I can't really respect anybody who automatically rejects ideas because they
seem far out. That is why we need to have a libertarian political system that
will allow people like me, to co-exist with people like that.
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