From: Gregory Houston (vertigo@triberian.com)
Date: Fri Mar 28 1997 - 01:16:33 MST
Tony wrote:
> What I find most disturbing about this whole suicide incident is that there
> is a perverted form of transhumanism buried somewhere in their philosophy
> of "Heaven's Gate" and their idea of the transition to the "The Level Above
> Human" or whatever they call it.
The fact that two organizations both tout to seek a transition to "The
Level Above Human" does not mean they have the same goals. The two
organizations may have an entirely different conception of what exactly
is meant by "The Level Above Human".
I don't know if its the case here, but transpersonalism and
transhumanism are often mistaken for each other. Where in grossly
oversimplified terms transpersonalism is about the transcendance and
annhilation of the ego or self, transhumanism is about the development
and augmentation of the ego or self. transpersonalists tend to seek some
form of finality or completion, e.g., bliss, heaven, utopia, a return to
oneness with everything, etcetera, whereas transhumanists tend to favor
evolution and development with no forseeable finality or completion.
In other words, transpersonalists believe the transition to the "The
Level Above Human" to be becoming one with God, Atman, The Ultimate One,
The Aliens(?), whereas transhumanists tend to believe the transition to
the "The Level Above Human" to be in a sense becoming a discrete and
uniquelly individual "god" or uberman(sp?) ... per say. For the former
the transition is and ends in itself, whereas for the latter the
transition is a means for something always greater.
The similarity in names is unfortunate. Personally I find
transpersonalism repulsive.
Cheers!
--
Gregory Houston Triberian Institute of Emotive Education
vertigo@triberian.com http://www.triberian.com
phone: 816.561.1524 info@triberian.com
cellular: 816.807.6660 snail: PO Box 32046 Kansas City MO 64171
"Empowered, impassioned, we have a lust for life insatiable!"
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