From: Carlos Gonzalia (gonzalia@cs.chalmers.se)
Date: Thu Apr 26 2001 - 07:59:36 MDT
>From: Jim Fehlinger <fehlinger@home.com>
>
>Brian Atkins wrote:
>
>> To the apparently few actual Extropians (the capital "E" ones, you know
>> who you are) left on this list, may I suggest we spend the next few weeks
>> doing some serious schooling and "education" of the sizable crop of newbies,
>> trolls, and gibbering incompetents who have made this list almost unusable?
>
>You know, not so very long ago (mere weeks, in fact), I would
>have taken a blast like this very much to heart myself, checking
>my fly, running to the mirror to see if green stuff was stuck between
>my teeth, and in general angsting about whether I had any business
>"bothering the grownups" of this august company.
>
>Now I'm more inclined to shake my head at the crude attempt to use
>this sort of generalized guilt as a tool of intimidation, rather than
>some more entertaining and enlightening form of social control
>(argument, anyone? wit? humor?).
I very much share Mr Fehlinger's feelings on this regard. If it bothers you this
much to have us newbies around, you only need to ask and I'm sure many of us
would promptly unsubscribe. I know I would be one of them. I'm not a brilliant
person at all, heck I'm prone to utter honest gibbering in my attempt to learn
or argue a point. And that if I'm on a good day. Should I keep silent then? I
have no problems in being "educated" through smart flames, arguing,
well-intended being making fun of, and even brutal objective criticism. However,
when snobbism rears its ugly head, I tend to leave for more welcoming grounds.
>I have never, in fact, called myself either an extropian or an
>Extropian, and I think one of the great things about this list is
>that it's not necessary for me to do so in order to post here. If I had
>to sign something equivalent to the Thirty-Nine Articles in order to
>participate here, I'd be gone.
Same for me. I'm still too far from knowing enough of anything in this world to
feel entitled to call myself any label. Lest of all, extropian. I thought the
list welcomed anyone curious or sympathetic regarding extropianism, regardless
of affiliations or lack thereof. If I'm wrong I appologize and will act
accordingly.
Carlos Gonzalia
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