From: T0Morrow@aol.com
Date: Mon Jan 20 1997 - 12:38:38 MST
On Sun, 19 Jan 1997, Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote:
> If unadulterated Extropianism isn't popular, it *will* mutate into
> something that is.
A strict practitioner of memetics would say that a mutation of Extropianism
would have to have to colonize new carriers were it to survive. Such
colonization can take place via beneficent symbiosis ("popularity") or
destructive parasitism ("infection").
As currently formulated, Extropianism offers a close fit with its carriers'
other meme-sets, such as the will to survive and the love of intelligence.
Some of these native meme-sets run quite deep in humans. That Extropianism
satisfies our inborn goals makes it useful, satisfying, and justifiably
popular.
A mutant Extropianism, however, might drain its carriers dry of life--but not
before they cast the mutant meme on to other carriers. Ebola-like, such a
"Hextropian" cult could burn through an ill-prepared population. I thus
regard parasitical mutant Extropianism as a real threat.
As innoculation, I offer humor. See, for example, "Previously Unpublished
Silliness" at <http://members.aol.com/t0morrow/T0Mpage.HTML>. If Extropians
take themselves too seriously, others will not take them seriously at all.
T.0. Morrow
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