E
ECOCALYPSE: (from ecological and apocalypse)
A projected ecological catastrophe which would destroy all life on Earth.
[Mark Plus; August 1991]
ECTOGENESIS: In vitro reproduction;
synthetic wombs.
EI: Emergent Intelligence. An intelligent system
that gradually emerges from simpler systems, instead of being designed
top down.
EMBRYOMEME: Suggestion of a new meme
to be used in a group with a shared set of knowledge. Usualy made by
somebody with an inflated ego trying to coin the phrase. [Max M Jan
1999]
EMULATION: An absolutely precise simulation
of something, so exact that it is equivalent to the original (for example,
many computers emulate obsolete computers to run their programs).
ENHANCED REALITY: A personalized
view of reality, the result of filtering, translation and addition of
new perceptions (such as annotations, information or virtual objects).
Unlike VR (virtual reality), which is immersive and only deal with virtual
objects, ER would improve interaction with real objects and situations
(in addition to virtual objects). See Intelligent
Information Filters and Enhanced Reality [Alexander
Chislenko].
ENVIROCAPITALISM: The use of free
markets to protect the environment.
EPHEMERALISTS: Persons who reject
immortalist technology and values
(the result of deathist thinking). [MM, 1990, from "Ephemeral",
Robert A. Heinlein, 1958]
E-PRIME: E-Prime is English without the
verb "to be" in its sense of "is of identity". It
originated in the tradition of General
Semantics, to avoid many of the pitfalls of natural languages which
confuse the outside world and the observer. For a more detailed introduction,
see E-Prime:
English without the verb "to be".
ESCALATORLOGY: (derogatory) a fatuous
belief in an endless evolutionary escalator exalting the human race.
(refering to escathology, the study of final things, and especially
the physical escathology of
Frank J. Tipler). [Mary Midgley]
THE ETERNAL LIFE POSTULATE:
The assumption that life, once it arises in the universe, lasts forever
(primarily made by Frank J. Tipler in his Omega
Point Theory).
EUPSYCHIA: A society specifically designed
for improving the self- fulfillment and psychological health of all
people. A culture or sub- culture made up of psychologically healthy
or mature or self-actualizing people. A Eupsychian sub-culture is "decentralized,
voluntary yet coordinated, productive, and with a powerful and effective
code of ethics (which works)." (Maslow.) [Abraham Maslow, 1954]
EUTHENICS: Improving the current generation,
as opposed to eugenics, which seeks to improve future generations [R.C.W.
Ettinger, Man Into Superman, 1972].
EVOLUTURE: An organism produced through
evolution; the antonym of creature. [Mark Plus, June 1991]
EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE STRATEGY
(ESS): A strategy which is remains the most optimal even when
there are a small number of individuals using other strategies in the
population.
EXCONOMICS: The study of possible trans-
and post-human economies.
EXES: Ex-humans, posthuman
beings. [Hans Moravec, Mind Age 1995]
EXFORMATION: Exformation is useful
and relevant information, not just data. [The original definition by
Tor Nörrestranders was the information which has been abstracted away,
and now is implicitly included in the message].
EXISTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY:
(existech) A technological framework for self-determination and mastery
over one's own destiny. [ Steve Mann, VibraVest/ThinkTank:
Existential Technology of Synthetic Synesthesia for the Visually Challenged]
EXOPHOBIA: The fear of new, complex and
different things; everything outside normal experience.
EXOSELF: Systems linked to the self in
a cooperative way, extending the mind and the body. Especially used
about the systems supporting an uploaded
personality, providing information, virtual reality and monitoring.
[Greg Egan, Permutation City]
EXTROPIA: A conception of evolving communities
embodying values of Boundless
Expansion, Self-Transformation,
Dynamic Optimism,
Intelligent Technology,
and Spontaneous Order.
May be instantiated in virtual cultural communities such as those on
the Net, or in future actual communities such as Extropolis
or Free Oceania. [T.O. Morrow, 1991]
EXTROPIAN: One who affirms the values
and attitudes codified and expressed in the
Extropian Principles. See also the Extropy
Institute website.
EXTROPIATE: 1) Any drug that has extropic
effects, including all cognition enhancing and life extending drugs.
[David Krieger, December 1991]
2) a derogatory term for passively optimistic perversions of the extropian
meme like "technology will make everything
better". Extropiates makes believers passively wait for everything
to get better instead of doing something about it (a kind of rapture
of the future) [Gregory Houston Mar 1997]
EXTROPIC: Any action or process that promotes
extropy.
EXTROPOLIS: A proposed Extropian community
located in our solar system, probably at L-4 or L-5 orbits, or the Asteroid
Belt. [Max More, 1991]
EXTROPY: A measure of intelligence, information,
energy, life, experience, diversity, opportunity, and growth. The collection
of forces which oppose entropy. (Also a extropian
quarterly magazine, see the Extropy
Home Page) [T.O. Morrow, 1988]
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