From: Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Sep 27 1996 - 04:08:00 MDT
On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, Chris Hind wrote:
> As we proceed closer to the millenium things are going to get stranger and
> more bizarre due to religions predicting the end of the world which will
> also stir up topics such as UFOs and psychic phenomenon which we are even
> beginning to see leech into the extropian and transhuman newsgroups. It will
> all pass and rationality will triumph but we must just wait for this time to
> pass and attempt to become involved in this whole phylum of memes revolving
> around the 2000 mark.
I'm not sure it is the 2000 meme that is dangerous, it is the millennial
meme. While there are many fringe groups awaiting armageddon in 1999,
2000, 2001 or possibly 2012, there are many more people who expect
Something Big to happen soon, not necessarily at the millennium. This
widespread premonition of a great upheaval/transcendence will influence
their actions, both for good and evil - some will become passive and
quietly await what happens, other will become extremely agitated and try
to avert it, fight for it or generally mess up things. And if everybody
expects something to happen, it will happen - it is just a matter of
self-fulfilling prophecies.
I'm not sure rationality will triumph on its own - it has its strengths
and weaknesses as a meme.
> To name a few:
> Telekinesis
> Telepathy
> Spontaneous Combustion
> UFO sightings & abductions
> Huge Gov't Conspiracies
>
> What am I forgetting?
> Also, it will be interesting to see the first two on the list become a
> reality through technological innovations with nanotechnology and
> brain-computer interfaces.
Actually, most of them could be implemented with technology (combustion =
microwave beams, nanocomputer overload. Government conspiracies could be
facilitated using AI).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
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