From: Brian Manning Delaney (bdelaney@infinitefaculty.org)
Date: Mon Sep 20 1999 - 14:29:46 MDT
Stan Kretler wrote:
> "Carol Tilley" <tilley@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>> From: Stan Kretler
> >> Another way to ask my question would
> >> be: what is it that's daring here?
> > Obviously there is something daring here
> Hm. I seem to have asked an unanswerable question.....
Stan,
When you ask a question of the form, "Wait, doesn't the King
have no clothes on?", you shouldn't expect a warm, lengthy
response (though thanks to Greg for his excellent, detailed
post.)
I share your questions, and am not certain what the King is
actually wearing. But some things to keep in mind:
1) The faq says (http://www.extropy.org/faq/topics.html):
FAQ> The history of the alt.extropians newsgroup is
FAQ> complex and we won't go into it here, just yet,
FAQ> but it was decided early on by the people who
FAQ> established the extropians mailing list that it
FAQ> would be a "safe haven" for extropian people to
FAQ> discuss fine points WITHIN the context of
FAQ> extropian thought.
While this rule might strike you as somewhat Stalinist, it's
perfectly understandable [1]. People here have things they want
to accomplish, and public self-questioning -- at least a certain
kind of self-questioning, or a certain degree of it -- can get
in the way.
And, bottom line: it's the rule.
2) While the ideas discussed here might be obvious to you, and
to most people you know, they aren't to 99.something percent of
the people on the planet. Speaking to "the masses" may be
boring, but it's extremely important, politically. Many people
here are engaged in activism in the public sphere, and encounter
people who not only have not read Bacon, Descartes, Nietzsche,
etc., but don't even understand the rudiments of science.
But, again: rules are rules; ergo: termination of discussion,
unless someone with rule-bending authority indicates that
termination isn't necessary.
Best,
Brian.
[1] See more at the indicated URL for why the rule isn't thought
to be Stalinist.
-- Brian Manning Delaney <b-delaney@uchicago.edu> "Exoterisch -- esoterisch...." -Nietzsche
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:05:13 MST