Symbiotic Extropianism: 🌱/acc

"Symbiopianism", an alternative philosophy to pure techno-accelerationism

“The birth of a new solar system ecosystem, terraformed asteroids connected by living light bridges, different intelligent species sharing wisdom in floating meditation spheres, organic supercomputers grown from space-adapted fungi, gas giant rings transformed into garden rings, cosmic scale, hyperdetailed, art…” — Midjourney 6.1

My Sunday 🧠Mind Expanding thinking out loud... attempting to reconcile two conflicting “north star” philosophies in my own mind: (1) techno-accelerationist Extropianism and (2) ecological preservationism.

(Inspired partly by

Stephen Reid

’s excellent Technological MetaModernism Coursenotes, in particular the summary of the modern Extropian E/acc movement:

"e/acc has no particular allegiance to the biological substrate for intelligence and life… Parts of e/acc (e.g. Beff) consider ourselves post-humanists; in order to spread to the stars, the light of consciousness/intelligence will have to be transduced to non-biological substrates…

To which I my instinctive reaction is:

What follows are edited extracts from a dialogue with the new Claude 3.5 Sonnet, going into an initial exploration of the topics. (Sidenote: the new Sonnet feels like another significant step up in my co-thinking toolset, it really seems to grok my questions even more than the previous Sonnet 3.5 or ChatGPT).

Background: the Extropian movement

The Extropian movement emerged in the late 1980s as a transhumanist philosophy and social movement, primarily developed by Max More, who wrote The Principles of Extropy in 1988. Extropianism advocates for using science, technology, and rational thinking to improve the human condition and transcend biological limitations.

Key principles of Extropianism include:

1. Perpetual Progress: The belief in continual technological and social advancement

2. Self-Transformation: Using technology to enhance human physical and cognitive capabilities

3. Practical Optimism: A proactive approach to human advancement

4. Intelligent Technology: Advocating for the development of technologies like AI, nanotechnology, and life extension

5. Spontaneous Order: Favoring decentralized, voluntary social organization

6. Dynamic Optimism: Maintaining a positive, action-oriented outlook towards technological progress

Extropians often support:

• Life extension research

• Cryonics

• Space colonization

• Artificial intelligence development

• Genetic engineering

• Cognitive enhancement

The movement has influenced broader transhumanist thought and tech culture, particularly in Silicon Valley. However, it has also faced criticism for what some see as an overly optimistic view of technological progress and potential disregard for social implications.

What is the relationship between Extropianism and nature / biological conservation?

Extropianism and natural/biological conservation are traditionally thought of as being in tension. Extropians generally view unmodified nature and biology as constraints to be transcended rather than preserved in their current state, which creates several points of philosophical and practical friction with conservation movements:

1. Natural vs. Artificial

• Extropians reject the notion that "natural" automatically equals "good" or "preferable"

• They challenge the conservation movement's tendency to romanticize untouched nature

• They view biological evolution as a blind, inefficient process that can be improved upon through directed technological intervention

2. Transformation vs. Preservation