{{Short description|Stance favoring continuous technological evolution and longer lifespans}} {{redirect|Extropy|extropy in thermodynamics, biology and information theory|Negentropy}} {{Transhumanism}} '''Extropianism''', also referred to as the '''philosophy of extropy''', is an "evolving framework of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition".<ref name=":1" /> Extropians believe that advances in science and technology will some day let people live indefinitely. An extropian may wish to contribute to this goal, e.g. by doing research and development or by volunteering to test new technology.
Originated by a set of principles developed by the philosopher Max More in ''The Principles of Extropy'',<ref name=":1"> {{Cite web |url= http://www.extropy.org/principles.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131015142449/http://extropy.org/principles.htm|archive-date= 2013-10-15 |title= Principles of Extropy (Version 3.11) : An evolving framework of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition |year=2003 |author= Max More |publisher= Extropy Institute }} </ref> extropian thinking places strong emphasis on rational thinking and on practical optimism. According to More, these principles "do not specify particular beliefs, technologies, or policies". Extropians share an optimistic view of the future, expecting considerable advances in computational power, life extension, nanotechnology and the like. Many extropians foresee the eventual realization of indefinite lifespans or immortality, and the recovery, thanks to future advances in biomedical technology or mind uploading, of those whose bodies/brains have been preserved by means of cryonics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last=Regis |first=Ed |date=October 1, 1994 |title=Meet the Extropians |url=https://www.wired.com/1994/10/extropians/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Prisco |first=Giulio |date=March 4, 2021 |title=The Extropian Roots of Bitcoin |url=https://www.ccn.com/extropian-roots-bitcoin/ |work=CCN}}</ref>
== Extropy<!--'Extropy' redirects here--> == The term '''extropy'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, as defined by Max More, is "The extent of a living or organizational system’s intelligence, functional order, vitality, and capacity and drive for improvement".<ref>{{Cite web |last=More |first=Max |date=2003 |title=Principles of Extropy {{!}} Version 3.1 |url=http://extropy.org/principles.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030919194923/http://extropy.org/principles.htm |archive-date=2003-09-19 |website=Extropy Institute}}</ref> It means the opposite of entropy, metaphorically interpreted as the tendency to degenerate and die out. Extropianism is "the philosophy that seeks to increase extropy".<ref name=":0" />
== Extropy Institute<!--'Extropy Institute' redirects here--> == In 1986, More joined Alcor, a cryonics company, and helped establish (along with Michael Price, Garret Smyth and Luigi Warren) the first European cryonics organization, Mizar Limited (later Alcor UK).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Alcor Team|url=http://www.alcor.org/AboutAlcor/meetalcorstaff.html|access-date=26 May 2016}}</ref> In 1987, More moved to Los Angeles from Oxford University in England to work on his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Southern California.<ref name=":0" />
In 1988, ''Extropy: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought'' was first published. (For the first few issues, it was "Extropy: Vaccine for Future Shock".) This brought together thinkers with interests in artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, life extension, mind uploading, idea futures, robotics, space exploration, memetics, and the politics and economics of transhumanism. Alternative media organizations soon began reviewing the magazine, and it attracted interest from like-minded thinkers. Later, More and Tom Bell co-founded the '''Extropy Institute'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> ('''ExI'''), a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 5, 1996 |title=Extropianism |url=https://www.mit.edu/people/jpbonsen/extropianism.html |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.mit.edu}}</ref> The institute was formed as a transhumanist networking and information center to use current scientific understanding along with critical and creative thinking to define a small set of principles or values that could help make sense of new capabilities opening up to humanity.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
In 2006, the board of directors of the Extropy Institute made a decision to close the organization, stating that its mission was "essentially completed."<ref name="Extropy Institute 2006">{{cite web| publisher = Extropy Institute | title = Next Steps| year = 2006| url = http://www.extropy.org/future.htm| access-date = 2006-05-05| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110225075011/http://www.extropy.org/future.htm| archive-date = 2011-02-25| url-status = dead}}</ref>
In the 90s, the Extropy Institute launched an email mailing listserv through which members could receive updates from the institute and have conversations about extropianism with other members.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Regis |first=Ed |title=Meet the Extropians |url=https://www.wired.com/1994/10/extropians/ |access-date=2025-08-04 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bilyard |first=Dylan |date=2023-01-15 |title=Investigation Launched into Oxford Don’s Racist Email |url=https://theoxfordblue.co.uk/investigation-launched-into-oxford-dons-racist-email/ |access-date=2025-08-04 |website=The Oxford Blue |language=en-GB}}</ref> Notable members include:
* Julian Assange<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extropy Chat January 2006 |url=https://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/2006-January.txt}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Hagey |first=Keach |date=2025-05-20 |title=How Peter Thiel’s Relationship With Eliezer Yudkowsky Launched the AI Revolution |url=https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-optimist-open-ai-sam-altman/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250601074843/https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-optimist-open-ai-sam-altman/ |archive-date=2025-06-01 |access-date=2025-08-04 |work=WIRED |language=en-US}}</ref> * Nick Bostrom<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> * Wei Dai<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chivers |first=Tom |title=The AI Does Not Hate You: Superintelligence, Rationality and the Race to Save the World |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4746-0877-0 |location=United Kingdom}}</ref> * Eric Drexler<ref name=":4" /> * Hal Finney<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |title=Bitcoin's Earliest Adopter Is Cryonically Freezing His Body to See the Future |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/08/hal-finney/ |access-date=2025-08-04 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> * Robin Hanson<ref name=":3" /> * Todd Huffman<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=de Wolf |first=Chana |title=MEMBER PROFILE: Todd Huffman |url=https://www.cryonicsarchive.org/docs/cryonics-magazine-2012-04.pdf#page=18 |url-status=live |journal=Cryronics |publisher=Alcor Life Extension Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715205916/https://www.cryonicsarchive.org/docs/cryonics-magazine-2012-04.pdf#page=18 |archive-date=July 15, 2023}}</ref> * Marvin Minsky<ref name=":3" /> * Ray Kurzweil<ref name=":3" /> * Nick Szabo<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wirdum |first=Aaron Van |date=2024-03-23 |title=How 1990s libertarians laid the groundwork for cryptocurrency |url=https://reason.com/2024/03/23/the-1990s-visionaries-who-saw-the-digital-future/ |access-date=2025-08-04 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}</ref> * Eliezer Yudkowsky<ref name=":3" />
==See also== {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Biopunk movement * Cyborg anthropology * Democratic transhumanism * ''Eclipse Phase'', a tabletop game which uses the philosophy in its futuristic setting. * Effective accelerationism * Futures studies * Holism * Omega Point * Meliorism * Negentropy * Posthuman * Proactionary Principle * Russian Cosmism * Sustainability * Systems philosophy * Systems thinking * Transhumanism {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://kk.org/thetechnium/extropy/ Kevin Kelly on Extropy] - Kevin Kelly at The Technium, August 29, 2009 * {{cite web|url=http://www.extropy.org/|title=Transhumanism's Extropy Institute - Transhumanism for a better future|access-date=1 August 2013}} * {{Cite web |title=Extropian, Transhuman, and Future Tech Sites |url=https://www.nanotech-now.com/extropian-sites.htm |website=Nanotechnology Now}} Category:Extropianism Category:Transhumanism Category:Philosophy of life Category:Virtue ethics Category:Optimism