[sudo-discuss] Dia de los Muertos fundraiser: is happening?

Tue Oct 28 11:01:27 PDT 2014

Praveen, I have observed similar things. I have hopes, but no answers.
Extropy? This study <http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/06/30/ethical-behavior-tired>
concluded that people made less ethical decisions when tired. If I believe
what people tell me, very few people actually want to
discriminate--discrimination is just a result of cognitive biases that
we've developed to compensate for our limited processing power.  If some
humans had augmented mental resources, would it be easier to correct biased
thinking?

I would like to think that humanity will soon evolve past this kind of
thing, but if we don't, our impending potential self-directed species
differentiation could result a wee bit of conflict. And...that's one reason
I would like to bring the transhumanist/futurist community closer to the
Omni community.

Here's the updated flyer.

On Sat, Oct 25, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Praveen Sinha <dmhomee at gmail.com> wrote:

> I grew up in New Mexico too Lesley, and agree feel for what you are
> talking about -- everyone was sort of equally poor and have memories of
> DDLM everyone participated in growing up in school :)  Things are really
> different out here aren't they? :)
>
> The reason I wrote the last email has to do more with underlying
> faultlines of not just gentrification (a lot has been written about this
> topic in the DDM festivities in the Mission), but in transhumanist circles
> itself.  While I find transhumanism to be very cool, I have encountered
> more than my fair share anti-black (I can point out comments on
> sudo-discuss in private, but also generally common in a lot of bay area
> circles) and islamophobic racism in transhumanist communities  (look no
> farther than richard dawkins).  Once again I /want/ transhumanism to be a
> multiracial and multicultural philosophy, and it deeply saddens me that
> these views are prevalent.  With all the writing and talk about the lack of
> inclusion of hispanic communities in Silicon Valley, it's easy to to take a
> view of a transhumanist DDLM as being appropriative.
>
> I don't have good answers for any of this stuff, but I think it's worth
> having a long critical conversation about it.  We are, after all, inventing
> the future.  We don't want to drag the horrible social legacy stuff going
> forward as well do we?
>
> On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 7:35 PM, Lesley Bell <zvezdalune at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Praveen, that's an excellent suggestion.  Thank you for your nuanced and
>> sensitive response.  Would anyone on the list who identifies as Hispanic
>> like to help with that?
>>
>> This discussion hinges on the issue of whether there is a difference
>> between disrespectful cultural appropriation (e.g. Native-themed all-white
>> frat parties) and respectful culture-inspired artistic and social
>> explorations. Unlike Sonja, most of my lived experience has been in areas
>> with much more Hispanic influence than the Bay Area.  In New Mexico, I
>> didn't hear anyone voice offense at whites celebrating DDM, because we were
>> the minority and acknowledged as part of the community--our participation
>> carried no threat because Hispanics were the often-dominant majority. Also,
>> there were so many people of mixed ancestry, white-skinned Mexicans, and
>> brown skinned non-Hispanic Native peoples that there was no issue of anyone
>> being assumed to have "no understanding" of the holiday.
>>
>> Also, I have seen the issue of race-as-culture be very much used to
>> oppress people of color in historically white European countries where
>> people of color can live in the country for 3+ generations and still not be
>> viewed as, for example "really French."
>>
>> Anyway, for now I'll revise the flyer. Just wait ten years until we get
>> to transhumans vs. primate-body-identified humans. That will be an
>> interesting discussion.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 6:59 PM, yar <yardenack at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 5:53 PM, Sonja Trauss <sonja.trauss at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > I just didn't want to seem aggressive or like I'm trying to troll the
>>> list
>>> > or criticize you in public.
>>>
>>> Replying privately with an argument is in some ways more aggressive
>>> than replying on the list. It can make people feel cornered, makes it
>>> harder for them to call for backup, and can potentially enable
>>> triangulation gaslighting. Please ask for explicit permission from
>>> people before starting private email arguments.
>>>
>>> > But since you do - can you explain a thing I always wonder about when
>>> I read
>>> > authoritative statements about "My Culture" -
>>> > What should I make of Hispanics that don't agree with you - Hispanics
>>> who do
>>> > not care who celebrates their holidays, or Hispanics who don't feel
>>> > particularly connected to their holidays? Which one of you speaks for
>>> all
>>> > Hispanics?
>>>
>>> Speaking from an identity position is not the same as "I speak for
>>> everybody who shares my identity." Missing a subtle but important
>>> distinction like that and then haranguing somebody else over it, is
>>> the hallmark of a well-played troll. You've been warned several times
>>> on this list for creepy racist behavior. Please end it once and for
>>> all. Thank you.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>>> https://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Lesley Bell
>>
>> 432-266-0397
>> zvezdalune at gmail.com
>> <http://lesleybell.com>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>> https://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>
>>
>

-- 
Lesley Bell

432-266-0397
zvezdalune at gmail.com
<http://lesleybell.com>
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