From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Thu May 23 2002 - 00:10:31 MDT
On Thursday, May 23, 2002, at 01:23 am, Amara Graps wrote:
> Dear Extropes,
>
> Life is too precious, and time too, and it's not my way of living to
> think of using my precious time to categorize people on gender or race
> or religion any other category and assign them blame for the things that
> might have gone wrong in my life. That seems completely alien to me,
> something from a strange race that haven't evolved.
Amen!
It's not just women who feel this way. I, too, have my stomach turned
by talk of killing infants, assassinating Luddites, valuing men more
than women, judging people by race, uploading people against their will,
taking property by force to manufacture computronium, etc. These are
Anti-Extropian suggestions. They run counter to the Extropian
Principles. Most of us are too busy to fight all these battles online.
But don't be fooled by a loud minority. These ideas are not
representative of any Extropian faction.
Extropy creates, it does not destroy. Extropy values life, and does
seek death. Extropy values individual rights, and does not seek to
overrule individual rights in the name of some greater good. Extropy
values individuals on their own merits, and doesn't pre-judge
individuals based on their groupings.
All these arguments about how to value people, who is more valuable,
when is killing OK, when is theft OK, when do the ends justify the
means, etc. are bogus. They are written by people with too much time on
their hands, who are trying to lead us down the slippery slope toward
some violent revolution.
The Extropian Principles are really good. True Extropians really
believe in them. They may not be perfect, and they are always evolving,
but they are a good start. Be suspicious of any plan that says to ignore
your own beliefs, kill everybody and steal their stuff, and then
implement your good beliefs after the opposition is gone. That is not
the plan of an Extropian.
-- Harvey Newstrom, CISSP <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> Principal Security Consultant <www.Newstaff.com>
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