tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post902920633313934772..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Did A Transhumanist Editor Lose Her Job For Publishing Something I Wrote? Dale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-30124441511076353962012-11-20T08:34:32.820-08:002012-11-20T08:34:32.820-08:00> I'm saying she's a relentless self-pr...> I'm saying she's a relentless self-promoter. . .<br />> It's her only resume entry.<br /><br />Well, I can't resist adding that once upon a time, on her Web site<br />(I don't know if it's still there) she adduced for public<br />consideration the fact that Warren Beatty allegedly once<br />called her "a fascinating woman".<br /><br />Warren Beatty! Hey, I was reading in a celebrity rag last<br />Sunday at the laudromat, in an article about Richard Burton's<br />private diaries, that Warren Beatty and Maria Callas once<br />had dinner with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor.<br /><br />Warren Beatty! Maria Callas! (Aristotle Onassis! Jackie!)<br />La Liz!<br /><br />How much closer to divinity can you get than that?<br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-61029043900188020012012-11-20T08:28:29.072-08:002012-11-20T08:28:29.072-08:00> Not to mention thrown in a concentration camp...> Not to mention thrown in a concentration camp where they<br />> will abuse you until you break down and go mad.<br /><br />They call it "rehabilitation".<br /><br />> They reserve that for high level apostates.<br /><br />Actually, it seems you don't even have to be an apostate<br />to be sent to RPF. All you have to do is look funny at<br />a higher-up, or fail at some task that was assigned to you.<br />Like the impossible one described in John Duignan's book<br />of building your own computer system by recalling past<br />lives where you knew about the computers used by the<br />Galactic Confederacy.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-21385925635681332402012-11-19T10:04:31.784-08:002012-11-19T10:04:31.784-08:00Similarly with the Church of Scientology. If you&#...Similarly with the Church of Scientology. If you're just an ordinary "wog" --<br />an outsider -- you can be safely ignored. But if you've ever been a member<br />(let alone signed a billion-year contract with the Sea Org), and then decide<br />to quit (or, heaven help you, become a public critic), then you are<br />Declared as a "Suppressive Person", and may be hounded to the ends of<br />the earth.<br />*********************<br /><br />Not to mention thrown in a concentration camp where they will abuse you until you break down and go mad. They reserve that for high level apostates. jollyspaniardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999141103840765243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-86366637623341116592012-11-19T09:56:57.787-08:002012-11-19T09:56:57.787-08:00I can understand the need to avoid sexism
Excelle...<i>I can understand the need to avoid sexism</i><br /><br />Excellent, since otherwise I quite agree with you that NVM says all sorts of extremely silly things in public places.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-12347830617542997162012-11-19T06:20:52.834-08:002012-11-19T06:20:52.834-08:00Slut shaming? I'm not saying she's a slut,...Slut shaming? I'm not saying she's a slut, nor am I saying there's shame in fucking Max More or FM-2030. I'm saying she's a relentless self-promoter, and she's in the public position to promote herself simply due to her historical proximity to transhumanist celebrities, some of which she happened to be fucking. It's her only resume entry. <br /><br />I can understand the need to avoid sexism, but really, I thought it was understood we aren't talking about Natasha Vita More the person, but Natasha Vita More the public figure. Her public persona is better understood in the context of these relationships. And they're not irrelevant. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-81698390743017427412012-11-18T11:01:51.321-08:002012-11-18T11:01:51.321-08:00When it comes to vituperation and Vita-More, less ...When it comes to vituperation and Vita-More, less is not more: why stop with invective when adducing actual examples of her vapid senseless often outright ungrammatical prose is so easy and so very enjoyable? I have often quoted her nonsensical crayon scribbles here, but she also posts scads and scads of it online for anybody to see who can use the google. All that said, even I will grant there is more to More than the men (including More) she sleeps with, even if I might agree with you that there is little to the men. "Slut shaming" is boring and reactionary even when it targets silly futurists, as far as I'm concerned.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-48018603241897934762012-11-18T08:14:24.817-08:002012-11-18T08:14:24.817-08:00Natasha Vita More is a very stupid, very silly wom...Natasha Vita More is a very stupid, very silly woman whose main claim to fame is fucking FM-2030 and Max More, two self-styled progenitors of the transhumanist movement. Nothing she writes ever makes any sense. And I'm reasonably sure she's never had an original thought in her life. <br /><br />Aside from that, she's pure win.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-22827365904947869152012-11-17T23:01:24.263-08:002012-11-17T23:01:24.263-08:00Thanks Jim, you always have interesting stuff to a...Thanks Jim, you always have interesting stuff to add to the conversation :)<br /><br />"Hence "Nancie Clark O'Connor" becomes "Natasha Vita More"<br /><br /><br />Seriously is she an X-Men villian who leeches life as her ability?<br /><br />;)<br /><br /><br /><br />To be honest with this lot and Larry King and Simon Cowell ect all getting popsicled when they croak, I'm pretty certain that even if this was all proven to work I still wouldn't do it......<br /><br />Living forever in a World or indeed the Universe with all of them would be a nightmare.<br /><br />Which I could only assume was the punishment from a vengeful God.joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02594646216557510485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-17160154188851562832012-11-17T13:54:40.953-08:002012-11-17T13:54:40.953-08:00> [W]hy would anyone be surprised by the action...> [W]hy would anyone be surprised by the actions of someone<br />> who. . . changed their name to something so silly. . .?<br /><br />The Extropian wing of the >Hist crowd take the name<br />change thing quite seriously. It's symbolic of a kind of baptism or<br />transubstantiation of the personality -- a token or badge (the "outward<br />and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace" as the Anglicans say)<br />to wear in the mundane world as a reminder to oneself and others of the<br />glorious life to come (come the Singularity, or come being uploaded as<br />an AI, or come being woken up after a century in the dewar).<br />Also good practice for thinking of yourself and behaving like a more<br />godlike character, to be able to fully deserve and enjoy your new<br />Primo 3M+ Posthuman body<br />( http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/primo-posthuman/ ).<br />Hence "Nancie Clark O'Connor" becomes "Natasha Vita More",<br />"Mark Potts" becomes "Mark Plus", etc.<br /><br />Sez Mike Darwin in a 1997 Cryonet posting:<br /><br />"In my personal experience, somewhere around 50% of the cryonicists I've met meet<br />the DSM classification for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. . .<br />It has a great deal to do with: . . .<br />. . .having a sense of comic book grandiosity such as renaming yourself Tom Terrific<br />or Super Mann. . ."<br /><br />(Ironically, Mr. "Darwin" himself is actually named<br />Mike Federowicz. He claims to have come by the alias<br />"honestly" though -- he says he didn't pick it himself,<br />it was bestowed on him by his friends. He uses it with<br />a straight face, though.)<br /><br />> . . .and are self absorbed to the point of possibly being a parody...<br /><br />Well yeah, the Extropians have taken a personality trait<br />that most of them probably come by naturally and elevated it<br />into a virtue.<br /><br />They subscribe to the Nathaniel Branden school of "self esteem".<br />It's part of the definition of Extropy -- no Debbie Downers<br />or Shrinking Violets allowed. Branden himself, of course,<br />inherited all this from Ayn Rand.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-59483864485658742052012-11-17T07:06:32.846-08:002012-11-17T07:06:32.846-08:00I'm absolutely shocked that these two would fi...I'm absolutely shocked that these two would fire someone for publishing something they disagreed with....shocked I tells ya!<br /><br /><br />Seriously why would anyone be surprised by the actions of someone who pulled a Homer Simpson and changed their name to something so silly and are self abosorbed to the point of possibly being a parody....<br />Max Power meet Max More, you two will get on like douchebags on fire.joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02594646216557510485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-89077508039433870702012-11-16T11:30:04.374-08:002012-11-16T11:30:04.374-08:00I've just recently been (re)reading _The Apost...I've just recently been (re)reading _The Apostasy of a High Priest:<br />The Sociology of an American Cult_ by Park B. Romney (a second cousin<br />of our recent also-ran presidential candidate)<br />http://www.amazon.com/Apostasy-High-Priest--Sociology-American/dp/074146294X/<br /><br />The author describes thus his treatment by erstwhile Mormon<br />friends and family:<br /><br />"There will be members of the Church, even perhaps members of the priesthood,<br />who will take advantage of the cultural and social biases against me as<br />an apostate, among members of the Church, by encouraging the belief that<br />I am not telling the truth and am motivated by a dark and evil spirit in<br />making a point of these matters. I have already been subjected to years of<br />this type of spin at the hands of Mormons who have a deep social interest<br />in the belief that I am evil. I have been lied to by temple recommend holding<br />Mormons, lied about by temple recommend holding Mormons, cheated in<br />business by temple recommend holding Mormons, and falsely accused, set up,<br />framed, and personally threatened by those who know of my apostasy.<br />Some of these people are members of my own family. I surmise that they<br />justify their behavior towards me on the basis of my apostasy. I now<br />live largely in seclusion. . .<br /><br />As a matter of Church protocol, a Mormon cannot even sympathize with<br />an apostate to be considered worthy of temple attendance. This is one<br />of the mandatory temple worthiness questions in the interview. 'Do you<br />sympathize with any apostates?' A Mormon individual who spent considerable<br />time with me for a while suddenly informed me that she had been threatened<br />to be brought before the local Mormon High Council on charges of<br />sympathizing with an apostate. . . I was abruptly informed that I<br />was no longer welcome as a guest in her home. She had employment in<br />a county where her boss was a high-ranking official in the local Mormon<br />Church. I surmised that she felt her employment was at risk. . .<br /><br />I no longer believe that the Mormon Church is true. I cannot sell out<br />intellectual integrity and honesty for social acceptance. . .<br />I remain. . . [hopeful] that one day I might be considered a decent<br />human being. . ., worthy of at least some small measure of kindness<br />and consideration from my fellow man without being a Mormon. I have<br />ceased to seek such comfort amongst Mormons. . . My religion, now,<br />is the simple pursuit of truth and quest for integrity. . ., wherever<br />it may be found. That pursuit has cost me all that I ever loved.<br />I still think it's worth the price. I not only would sacrifice all<br />that I have for it, I already have sacrificed all that I had for it,<br />including the respect of most of my family and friends. I have nothing<br />left but hope and belief in the merits of smple goodness, human<br />decency, and a quest for integrity for no other reason than to feel<br />comfortable with who looks back at me in the mirror. . ."<br /><br />See also:<br />_Standing For Something More: The Excommunication of Lyndon Lamborn_<br />http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Something-More-Excommunication-Lamborn/dp/1438947437/<br /><br />_The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology_<br />(still listed on Amazon, at least in the U.S.!)<br />http://www.amazon.com/Complex-Insider-Exposes-Covert-Scientology/dp/1903582849/<br /><br />_Therapist_ by Ellen Plasil (her experience with the Objectivists)<br />http://www.amazon.com/Therapist-Ellen-Plasil/dp/0312903634/<br /><br />Freedom of speech -- even freedom to use basic common sense<br />and rationality -- cannot ever be taken for granted!<br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-45727885179596411942012-11-16T11:29:38.810-08:002012-11-16T11:29:38.810-08:00> [N]either can I say I'm exactly thrilled ...> [N]either can I say I'm exactly thrilled to think a choice<br />> to publish a lark of mine got somebody in even predictable trouble.<br /><br />All churches respond in this way when a member becomes an apostate.<br /><br />In fact, they tend to respond more harshly to apostates than to<br />"outside" skeptics or critics. In Islam, for example, an unconverted person<br />is in the condition of "jahiliyyah" -- benign ignorance -- and may<br />be left alone pending possible future conversion. On the other hand,<br />"riddah" -- apostasy -- once having known and then wilfully having the<br />rejected the Truth -- is punishable by death (unless the apostate repents and recants).<br /><br />Similarly with the Church of Scientology. If you're just an ordinary "wog" --<br />an outsider -- you can be safely ignored. But if you've ever been a member<br />(let alone signed a billion-year contract with the Sea Org), and then decide<br />to quit (or, heaven help you, become a public critic), then you are<br />Declared as a "Suppressive Person", and may be hounded to the ends of<br />the earth.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com