Anders Sandberg expertly summarized,
> One problem is that a voice of reason might not be what they want. Many of
> the groups of this kind are more built on shared views, a sense of purpose
> and community rather than a rational idea. The more opposition, the better:
> then they will be forced to work hard together against the
> uncaring/evil/uneducated world, themselves experiencing terrific community.
> Logical arguments have little to do with this, they are better at swaying
> people not belonging to the dedicated group. Hence a voice of reason will
> only affect those not really part of the shared emotions.
This clearly explains the dynamics of tribal warfare and the value of
selecting responsive audiences. It is much more effective and efficient to
*find* people who are susceptible to the voice of reason instead of trying to
convince or convert dyed-in-the-wool neo-Luddites.
Accordingly, Extro-5 and similar events that attract reasonable people do more
to promote Extropy than head-on confrontations with luddites. It's crazy to
argue with lunatics.
--J. R.
Everything that can happen has already happened, not just once, but an
infinite number of times, and will continue to do so forever.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:59:44 MDT