I’ve talked about Transtopia before. I don’t know quite what to make of it. There seems to be some synchronicities between Island Foundation and the Transtopians., especially with the embrace of new ideas with the hope of creating a better culture and the idea of developing an experimental culture on an island micronation. What is "transtopian." Here is how they define the term:
Trans: 1.Across; on the other
side; beyond (2.Through. 3.Change; transfer ). Topia: from the Greek word
"topos", meaning "place". Hence, Transtopia is the "place beyond" (or
"beyondplace"); the realm of the Posthumans. Of course,
Transtopia can also be seen as a contraction of Transhuman(ism) and Utopia. In
either case it refers to a state or place which is (near-)perfect; a
technological, virtual paradise where we ourselves are the gods. Transtopia
represents literally unimaginable knowledge, power, and pleasure — infinite
existence under the best possible conditions. It is the ancient dream of heaven
and immortality, which, thanks to accelerating scientific and technological
progress, may finally be within our reach.In a more mundane sense,
"Transtopia" is/will be the name of the autonomous island/ship-based
Transhumanist community which might be set up as an
intermediate step towards technological ascension. Last but not least it is the
name of this website (transtopia.org), and it is in this context that it’s most
widely used.
The site has been revised and updated a bit. I’ll dig a little deeper and I know some of the readers of this blog might want to explore it more as well.
Some of it is great stuff, and much of it the same old Randian crap. To wit:
“An eye for an eye” (proportional retribution) and the Golden Rule (anything goes, as long as “innocents” aren’t harmed against their will) are fair and logical principles, and should be the main pillars of (private, contract group) law. If the laws are sound, “mercy” is just a(n arbitrary) perversion of justice.
The true (and arguably only practical) purpose of philosophy is to ensure that reason, science, and technology get the respect and support they deserve. Everything else is essentially mental masturbation, for only science and technology can give us the means to fundamentally understand and improve ourselves and the world around us.
“Strictly speaking, we don’t act but react, don’t reason but rationalize, and “die” when we go to sleep. There’s no such thing as “free will”, and even temporal passage is probably just a subjective illusion — but really, who cares? The universe doesn’t, in any case, and neither should you.
And here is the real gem:
” Love really is (just) a (highly addictive) drug, sex a rather cumbersome way of getting off, and marriage an archaic pseudo-religious bonding ritual. They tend to cause (a lot) more trouble than they’re worth, which is why smart people will generally (try to) avoid them. Better use your imagination and lend yourself a hand.
My thoughts to this – NO THANKS. I think I’ll look elsewhere for my ideal commmunity companions.