The Extropist Manifesto
This is an update of the older Extropian Principles. It was originally here, has been credited to Breki Tomasson and Hank Pellisier, and was dated 2010 Feb 16th.
Note that I am more of an old-skool Orthodox Extropian, and don't agree with everything here or in the other (both earlier and later) Extropian platforms.
A global movement that updates and expands upon “The Extropian Principles” written by Max More in 1998.
Extropism is an optimistic, futuristic philosophy that can be summed up in the following five phrases:
- Endless eXtension
- Transcending Restriction
- Overcoming Property
- Intelligence
- Smart Machines
In more detail, the Extropist philosophy and world-view promotes:
Endless eXtension - Extropists seek perpetual growth and progress in all aspects of human endeavor. We are, as a species and as a culture, never finished or in any essential way complete. Instead, we continually pursue knowledge, we constantly experiment, we forever continue to develop techniques that improve our minds, our bodies, our culture and our environment. Extropists affirm this belief and take it to its logical conclusion.
We desire the technology and understanding that allows us to continually transform and augment the human body until we attain radically expanded lifespans, super-human wisdom & physical/neurological powers beyond anything we can imagine today. We intend to improve our culture & environment until we’ve instituted a fluid society that guarantees an euphoric existence to all those who desire it. We believe that there are sufficient resources available on Earth, in the solar system, and in the cosmos, to maintain endless growth and advancement.
Transcending Restrictions – Since they are ultimately inspired by growth, progress and continual development, extropists wish to abolish all restrictions imposed by religion, protectionism, segregation, racism, bigotry, sexism, ageism, and any of the other archaic fears and hatreds that continue to limit us today. We seek freedom for all living creatures and we believe that all of humanity can work together - without limits - in joyful social relationships that are based on honest communication and empathetic kindness.
We oppose authoritarian laws, surveillance and social control. We favor freedom of speech, freedom of action and freedom of experimentation in our constant striving to transcend all limitations to human potential. We also desire the ability to direct human evolution; to rise above our present animalistic behavior of conflict and domination and to abandon all physically and psychologically unhealthy inherited traits. Using genetic therapy and technical augmentations we will be able to create more advanced minds living in healthier human bodies. We will be able to remove neurological, physical and mental diseases that have plagued humanity since time immemorial. Ultimately, we want life and the way that we live it to be a conscious choice that isn’t limited by a sudden onset of disease or genetically programmed death.
Overcoming Property - We wish to reform archaic, out-dated human laws that govern possession by improving and/or annihilating terms such as ownership, copyright, patent, money and property. We believe that present regulations promote greed and are ultimately destructive to a far larger degree than they are beneficial. Millions of people are dying every year because pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to share their discoveries and insist on selling their products at murderous, unconscionable prices. The movie and music industries are successfully alienating their own customers by going after people who share files with each other on the Internet. We believe it is madness that anyone can own an idea, a blueprint, a thought, a melody or a genome. Human progress will advance far faster if knowledge, culture and resources are shared by everyone for the general welfare of all Earth’s inhabitants.
Intelligence - Extropy is the opposite of entropy; it is the inverse of chaos and lethargy. In a way, it is the only exception to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Extropy is intelligence, creativity, order, critical thinking, ingenuity and boundless energy. The most valuable material in the universe is information and the imagination to do something with it; with these two qualities there is truly no limit to what can be accomplished. We believe in optimism, independent thinking, personal responsibility, self-direction, self-esteem, critical thinking and respect for others. We do not believe in doing things because that’s how they’ve always been done, we believe in rational thought; utilizing our deductive reasoning abilities instead of depending on blind, irrational faith, superstition and traditional dogma.
Smart Machines - A primary goal of Extropism is the attainment of Friendly Artificial Intelligence. We promote the development of robots, computers, and all machines that can emulate human thought, copy minds, and attain intelligence that exceeds human ability. We fully endorse the ambitious projects ongoing in the world today where robots are being built to facilitate in everything from the care of the elderly to the building of better machines. In this respect, extropists are singularitarians. We believe that once Intelligent AI has been developed, many of the other extropist goals will follow naturally and in short order. We support all funding for research that promotes this ambition, and we oppose all legislation that impedes progress towards this intention.
This page was written in the "embarrassingly readable" markup language RHTF, and was last updated on 2015 Jan 01.
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