Quite so, Chris. I've had a couple of experiences of this in Europe lately.
I just got back from Austria where I spoke at a seminar and was slandered
from the audience by Geert Lovink, an "activist" left, and self-avowed
nihilist (his own presentation was illustrated by numerous photos of broken
and decaying objects -- he was practically a Randian villain stereotype!).
This fellow, during the question period of my talk, got up and referred to
extropians as a cult. I pointed out to the audience how this was a great
way of trying to prevent people from rationally considering a point of
view. He actually started his question by saying something like "It would
be easy for me to suggest that you are a Social Darwinist, but I won't." So
he smeared me in a sneaky way. I was pleased that a number of people
afterwards showed they were wise to his ways.
I was also called a fascist when speaking in Germany for daring to suggest
that we use technology to continually improve ourselves!
I had given absolutely no cause for such an attribute, and of course we
extropians have nothing remotely like a cult. Chris is exactly right that
the misperception is hardly our fault. I do think we should give increased
awareness to how we present our ideas. But I give zero credit to those who
use terms like "social Darwinist", "Nazi", or "fascist."
Max
Max More, Ph.D.
more@extropy.org
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President, Extropy Institute: exi-info@extropy.org, http://www.extropy.org