Transumanar

The Magic Word

The Magic Word exists in every language: AND, e, et, y… It can be reinforced by ALSO, anche, aussi, también… Your way, and also my way. My way, and also your way. Women, and also men. Nature, and also technology. Gays, and also straights. Non smokers, and also smokers. Immersionists in Second Life, and also augmentationists. The forest, and also the trees. Fun, and also work. Work, and also fun. Save the planet, and also move to space. Furries in Second Life, and also business people. Social fairness, and also personal freedom. Socially responsible transhumanists, and also visionaries and dreamers. Artists, and also accountants. Academicians in ivory towers, and also people in the street. Zen, and also motorcycle maintenance. Daily reality, and also cosmic visions. Humans, and also conscious Artificial Intelligences. Her lifestyle, and also his lifestyle. Fleshers, and also mind uploads. Sense of wonder, and also common sense. Stability, and also change. Safety, and also adventures. Churches, and also McDonalds, and also sex clubs, and also zoos and theaters and football and museums and drugs and whatever makes you happy without harming others.

The Magic Word can lead to A Magic World, complex, fractal, colored, interesting and beautiful. Forgetting The Magic Word leads to a dull black-and-white world, holy wars, and mass murder. I have no right to tell you what you should like and want, and you have no right to tell me what I should like and want. Or perhaps you do, but I have the right not to listen. I have no right to tell you what you should do or not do, and you have no right to tell me what I should do or not do, unless other persons can be concretely harmed as a result. Every reasonable person knows that conflicts are inevitable and there must be some degree of nonviolent conflict management (also called politics, regulations, or ethics), but these things should be accepted as a necessary evil rather than worshiped as holy icons, and practiced with some common sense rather than with Us Against Them self-righteous fury. I am for letting a transfinite aleph number of flowers bloom in all spheres of human activity, I am for distributed decision making at all levels, and I am against all central authorities in charge of deciding What Is Right.

Posted by on 08/20 at 09:31 AM