From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Mon Aug 04 1997 - 23:15:34 MDT
In a message dated 8/4/97 11:41:34 AM, otter@globalxs.nl (den Otter) wrote:
>Maybe...their [non-whites] *genetic programming*
>simply doesn't "allow" them to think that far [extropianism]...*ever*.
Well..
No.
I know several counterexamples to your statement. You should visit Silicon
Valley or LA (the centers of extropianism) sometime. They're both
multiracial, and becoming more so each year.
You're really stepping on one of my pet peeves - claims unsupported (actually
contradicted) by evidence.
>Suggestions of meme and gene equality are rediculous delusions,
>wishful thinking or outright *lies*.
Well, nobody here has said that all memes or all genes are equal. I've
simply pointed out that you haven't any evidence to support you claim that
they are correlated with skin color or ancestral geographic origin at 3000
BC. On theoretical grounds, I'd expect Africans, who have the longest
experience with the most complex environment on earth (lots of people) , to
have the best genes on average. In practice, we just don't have enough
variation between huamn groups to anticipate big differences. Culture is
what counts. The Europeans of which you're so enamoured came very close to
falling for the bunkum of facism and communism just this century.
>Not all memes are "attainable" for all people. If this were the case,
>the transhuman/extropian meme would have spread like wildfire
>and would by now dominate the world, because it is the most *rational*
>one by far.
Did you miss my recent post on conspiracy theory where I said that memes are
rarely selected on the basis of their truth? Aside from that, nobody has yet
significantly extended their life or built a nanotech machine, or
significantly exceeded human norms by cyborgization. It's perfectly rational
to disbelieve their immanence and worry about other things instead.
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