From: L' Ermit (lhermit@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Jan 18 2002 - 09:23:39 MST
[Roly/Orly/Vinyacálë] People should be booted for personal attacks and stuff 
like that.
[Hermit] Err, this is not in the charter of this list. What is in the 
charter is:
Virus is ...
a forum for rational discourse
a memetically engineered atheistic religion
a synthesis of religion and evolution
the best possible conceptual framework for living and thinking
a neo-cybernetic philosophy for the 21st century
Darwin's dangerous idea out of control
an extended phenotype of the Virion Council
Goal
Virus was originally created to compete with the traditional (irrational) 
religions in the human ideosphere with the idea that it would introduce and 
propagate memes which would ensure the survival and evolution of our 
species. The main advantage conferred upon adherents is Virus provides a 
conceptual framework for leading a truly meaningful life and attaining 
immortality without resorting to mystical delusions.
Overview
Virus is a collection of mutually-supporting ideas (a meme-complex) 
encompassing philosophy, science, technology, politics, and religion. The 
core ideas are based on evolution and memetics because one of the primary 
design goals was survivability through adaptation (religions die, not 
because they grow old, but because they become obsolete). If a new religion 
is designed around the premise of continuously integrating better (more 
accurate, more useful) concepts while ensuring the survival of its 
believers, it could conceivably achieve true immortality.
And importantly:
Virus is a collaborative project; if you subscribe to the ideas consider 
subscribing to one of the mailing lists!
[Hermit] Please note: Rational discourse. Not assertion. Not beliefs - even 
if those beliefs are Hindu rather than Christian. Not insulting people and 
then making lame half-assed apologies - and repeating the insults in the 
same post. Not misrepresenting arguments. Not refusing to examine an 
argument. And rational discourse involves supporting ones assertions.
[Roly/Orly/Vinyacálë] Booting people for holding to an idea that may SEEM 
irrational to SOME people is not wise.
[Hermit] The CoV has not done this yet, and in my opinion never will.
[Roly/Orly/Vinyacálë] The point is, they could in fact be RIGHT about 
whatever the subject is and you are following of the footsteps of so many 
people throughout history, and exiling them/persecuting them.
[Hermit] In the case of Yash, he might be (although that probability is by 
this stage vanishingly small) but while he cannot or will not support his 
assertions, we will never know.
[Roly/Orly/Vinyacálë] Dylan, there are no bad or good guys here - just 
opposing sides in a ridiculous war of personal insults that is now wholly 
detatched from the original subject of the discussion.
[Hermit] Roly/Orly/Vinyacálë might think so based on reading Yash's ever 
less rational and unsupported assertions. However, if he took care to 
examine the arguments (and the latest response was posted less than 12 hours 
ago) he would discover that he is wrong. Yash has yet to support his 
assertions or refute my response. Which has been available for two weeks or 
so. Yash has so far failed to counter a single argument or support a single 
assertion. And that is the problem. And the insults will continue until it 
is resolved. One way or another.
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