From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Fri Sep 10 1999 - 00:23:15 MDT
Since one of the "hallmarks" of an Extropian perspective is the
promotion of conclusions reached from a rational analysis, it
is interesting to note those cases where they is a lack thereof.
I have traveled, somewhat more than perhaps many individuals,
and as a result have had an opportunity to observe first hand
the differences in many cultures. Interesting observations
involving the areas in which cultures differ might include
civility, politeness, fear or attraction to strangers,
organized religious systems, educational level, richness
of history, mystic beliefs, as well as the more obvious
such as average and range of wealth within a culture.
Cultures differ significantly in these areas and for the
most part we ("Westerners/Anglo-Euros") on this list are
grossly unaware of these differences.
When doing some of the background research on the recent
nuclear weapons discussion I ran across the following:
http://www.asian-history.com/chap_3.html
I don't consider it a particularly well written discussion
but it seems to cover much of the recent and historical
action between Iran & Iraq, touching upon the history of the
oil industry and commenting on population growth and military
perspectives. It includes some interesting pointers to
more significant sources. Interestingly enough, the
article would appear to make some of Saddam's behaviors
seem "rational".
The food for thought that I would like individuals to
consider is the degree to which non-rational thought
(i.e. programmed beliefs) is promoted in countries
with a strong religious agenda. If the article is
correct, these countries have both (a) the economic
resources; and (b) the potential for population
growth to provide an ever increasing threat to
the expansion of rational philosophical systems.
Whether or not these potential threats will materialize
in very concrete forms before the singularity is very
difficult to say. It is however something that we
should beware of -- for it is potentially much more
significant threat to our timeline than crops being
uprooted or debates regarding germline engineering or the
neverending "l"ibertarian vs. "L"ibertarian discussions.
Robert
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