On Mon, 24 Dec 2001 14:33:06 -0800, you wrote:
>Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
>
>>While I admire Eli's passion, as one of those he describes as "in
>>total hard-takeoff denial", I see the transhumanist agenda a bit
>>differently: rather than the exponential growth of technology being
>>a wave that wipes away all the minor and irrelevant distinctions
>>we present-day humans spend too much time bickering about, I see
>>the rise of technology as expanding our abilities to create /real/
>>diversity.
>
>I very much agree with this. While I despise unfounded racism and other
>forms of group discrimination (people should be dealt with on an individual
>level...not as a group), I also think that there is a need for diversity of
>culture. Cultural assimilation scares me whether it is done with the best
>of intentions or not. While I don't think that was what Eliezer was
>proposing in his recent post, such assimilation *seems* (and I stress that
>word) to be a by-product of some brands of singularitarianism. I have
>other problems with some singularity theories, but I will delve into those
>at some later date.
>
>> Our present irrational concerns about race will be
>>wiped out not because we will come together, but because we will
>>diverge and speciate and migrate to the point where what are now
>>perceived as "racial" differences will be of less magnitude than
>>the individual differences we will be able to create. As we grow
>>apart, it will be all the more important that we learn how to take
>>advantage of diversity and comparative advantage so that the new
>>races we become will continue to work effectively toward even
>>greater diversity and creativity as we expand into the universe.
>
>Perhaps I am wrong, but this seems to me to be far more realistic than any
>other scenario I have heard. Whether or not you find this scenario ideal
>or not is an entirely different question, but if you look at the way
>history has gone and look at how people are *now* in this technologically
>advanced age, I have little doubt that races, cultures and other groups
>will diverge as opposed to converge; if some cultures cannot agree with
>each other in this day and age, perhaps humanity will be better off with a
>divergent path instead of a convergent one.
>
It seems to be that what is happening in the USA is that special
interest groups (mostly business lobbies) are taking advantage of the
fact that few citizens vote and of the fact that there are so many
different ethnic groups with differing interests, in order to buy off
the politicians and influence the media.
That is one big reason why I am against culturai diversity--divide and
be conquered...by the lobbyists.
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