EDITORIAL

Going Quarterly: From 1988-90, Extropy came out quarterly, the workload — then much lighter — divided between Tom Morrow and myself. On becoming sole editor and producer, I cut the frequency to twice yearly to ensure Extropy’s continued appearance despite my graduate work and teaching duties. Happily, this journal will return to quarterly publication starting with next issue: Extropy #12 will appear in January, #13 in April, and so on. This move was encouraged by my quitting teaching to work full-time for Extropy Institute (thanks to those ExI members who pulled together to hire me), and enabled by the increasing supply of appropriate writing.

If you bought this issue of Extropy at a newsstand or bookstore and intend to read future issues, please consider subscribing directly. Not only will you save money and receive your copy quickly and conveniently, you will be helping Extropy to survive and thrive. Distributors generally take 55% of the cover price ($4.95 from next issue), leaving us well under half once shipping costs are paid. Due to the minimal advertising in these pages, this return makes it hard to cover costs. Current subscription information can be found on the inside front cover.

In this issue: The idea of uploading one’s consciousness, personality, or self, leaving behind the biological human body for an intellectually and physically superior vehicle is an aspect of the Extropian outlook gathering much attention. The recent story in the British GQ (“Meet the Extropians”) is a case in point. Although some of us expect a more gradual process of human-machine merging, the possibility of uploading (taken as a starting point in last issue’s mindstretcher by roboticist Hans Moravec), merits serious analysis. In his article, Ralph Merkle — one of today’s few professional nanotechnology researchers — calculates the goals to be achieved by our technology if we are to make this vision a reality.

The Extropian Principles 2.5 substantially refines version 2.0 from a year ago. For those of you who have not seen the Principles before, you should know that this manifesto is intended to be a concise, consistent, and comprehensive presentation of the Extropian philosophy. I welcome

Change of address: Please note that we have moved since last issue. We may move again before the next issue comes out in January ‘94, but mail will be forwarded.

your suggestions for further refinements; future versions are inevitable.

I’m delighted to present an ambitious examination of the uses of spacetime wormholes, based on current physics research, to realize the Extropian goal of boundless expansion throughout spacetime, civilizing the universe. I’m especially pleased to introduce readers to the author, Michael Price, with whom I first worked six years ago, on the UK cryonics newsletter, Biostasis. Ralph Whelan, who learned Aldus Freehand to produce the article’s illustrations, deserves special thanks, both for the graphics and for helpful comments on the layout of the issue.

David Krieger concludes his conversation with Mark Miller, this second half even more stimulating, disturbing, and intriguing than the first. Miller identifies five variants of the libertarian political position, focusing especially on “nanarchy” — a possible system of the future designed to minimize coercion by removing the enforcement of rights from human control. Prepare to be both horrified and thrilled.

Economist Julian L. Simon, author of numerous books on the economics of population, immigration, and resources, and an unrelenting foe of the foolish kind of environmentalism, investigates why so many politicians, are enraptured by this bunk — why are they bunkrapf? Three reviews and two Extropian event notices complete the issue.

Upward and Outward!

Max More

EXTROPY #12 (AVAILABLE IN EARLY JANUARY ‘94) WILL LIKELY FEATURE:

BOUNDLESS CONSTELLATIONS: THE EMERGENCE OF CELESTIAL CIVILIZATION

OCEAN COLONIZATION: A PRACTICAL ANALYSIS

NEURAL-COMPUTER INTERFACING

LOGICAL LANGUAGES: ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE AND POSTHUMAN RATIONALITY

TWO QUESTIONS FOR EXTROPIANISM

UTILITY FOG (NANOTECH), PT. 1

INTERVIEWER DAVID KRIEGER STRIKES AGAIN

MORE REVIEWS (INC. KOSKO’S FUZZY THINKING: THE NEW SCIENCE OF FUZZY LOGIC)

POSTHUMAN SEXUALITY

EXTROPY — a measure of intelligence, information, energy, life, experience, diversity, opportunity and capacity for growth. Extropianism is the philosophy that seeks to increase extropy. The Extropian Principles are: (1) Boundless Expansion; (2) Self-Transformation; (3) Intelligent Technology; (4) Spontaneous Order; (5) Dynamic Optimism.

TRANSHUMANISM — Philosophies of life (such as Extropianism) that seek to continue and accelerate the evolution of intelligent life beyond the limitations of the human form to a posthuman condition by means of science and technology, guided by life-furthering principles and values, while rejecting religious dogma and irrationalism. [See Extropy #6]

EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993

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