From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Fri Sep 06 2002 - 23:20:08 MDT
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- > World Transhumanist Association Leaders are
>Mostly Jews
>
>>People were wondering why the World Transhumanist Association is so Liberal,
>>
>>Nick Bostrom: Jew
>>Natasha Vita-More: Jew
>>Anders Sanberg: Jew
>>Mark Walker: Jew
>>Eliezer Yudkowsky: [former] Jew
>>Eugene Leitl: Jew
>>James Hughes: White guy
>>Robin Hanson: Maybe a Jew, maybe White guy, can't tell...
>>
Me too! I have Jews in the woodpile. Perhaps someday I
will become a member of the board on WTA.
I was on a business trip sitting next to an orthodox Jew who had one
of those leather pouch thingies on his head. I think he called it a
treffilin or something. Teffilin? Eliezer, whats that thing called?
Anyway, he did his prayer routine. Afterwards I struck up a
conversation and he explained that they write scriptures on
tiny pieces of vellum or parchment and carry them in this pouch
attached to the head or around the chest or arm so it is next
to his brain and next to his heart. He showed me the contents
of his t[r?]effilin. I showed him my palm pilot, a Sony Clie.
I suggested the palm would have plenty memory to store
the entire [what I would call] Old Testament, he might call
the Torah and the Prophets, along with the Caballah, the
Talmud, the commentaries on the Talmud, the commentaries
on the commentaries on the Talmud, and still have enough
room left over for the complete works of Chaim Potok [may
he rest in peace.]
Of course one might look a bit silly walking around with
a palm pilot strapped to one's head. Fortunately this
man had a good sense of humor about the whole idea.
spike
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