I found these two statements, in the same essay on Transhumanist principles:
"When it comes to political memes, Transhumanism in its purest form doesn't have any fixed niche. Instead each host or group of hosts link it to their previous political views."
-- Anders Sandberg, 1994
Any and all doctrines of racial or ethnic supremacy / inferiority are incompatible with the fundamental tolerance and humanist roots of Transhumanism. Organizations advocating such doctrines or beliefs are not Transhumanist, and are unwelcome as affiliates of the WTA.
WTA STATEMENT ON NEO-NAZISM AND UFO CULTS (adopted 02/25/2002)
Neo-Nazi eugenic views; the individual "Marcus Eugenicus" and his associated group; UFO cults; the Raelian group; shall be designated as 'not Transhumanist / unacceptable to the Transhumanist community'.
and what about this knee slapper:
"according to the Singularitarian Principles. However, the same Principles duly point out in Independence that "It should go without saying that neither I [Eliezer Yudkowsky], nor Vernor Vinge, nor the Singularity Institute, nor any other human institution, should be believed to have any "authority" over other Singularitarians - except that voluntarily granted by other Singularitarians, of course. That much is implicit in our transhumanist heritage."
Will the real Transhumanists please stand up.
I thought they preached extreme open-mindedness, and tolerance, in the manner of post-modernism.
If so, then a group of Nazi-Transhumanists, must be allowed to exist, and practice, or the (real) tolerant, Tolerant Transhumanists are not really tolerant, and instead are hypocrites.
This is the problem with post-modernist influenced ideologies. They say that everything is relative, and pluralism, is the order of the day, but then they pick certain groups as being bad, and outside their sphere of relativistic tolerance, which contradicts their whole premise.
Transhumanism is self-contradiction personified, and it will fragment, and degenerate, into dangerous kook cults.
It's religoius attitude toward technology is scary, and it is fertile soil for a mean-spirited, "inner party", inhumanism toward anyone who does not worship their Technological God.
There are essays all over the Internet, by Transhumanists, and Extropians, that have statements in them that are hateful towards anyone who doesn't follow their "party line."
Here is one great line among many:
"What better way to set yourself apart from the deathist barbarians?"
I suppose I am a "deathist barbarian" for advocating a common sense approach to cyronics, which is that you can live a long time, but not, forever.
Making a fetish out of Science, and using it as a steamroller to crush "flat" everything in sight, as Tipler has done in the ultra kooky book, "The Physics of Immortality" will only take us to the digital gas ovens. The 21st century Hilter is out there, and he will be a Transhumanist. A perfect ideology for fanatics, whose minds, and hearts, are machines.
