MadGreenSon wrote:torjones wrote: I think the point I was trying to get at was that Mental Illness or Mental Aberration are not necessarily required for someone to be willing to augment themselves, and to further illustrate that point we also have Juicers and Crazys (and it's the MOM implants that supposedly make them crazy, rather than having the mental illness before the procedure). I agree that Rifts Earth really isn't into the whole Philosophy thing, but you don't need the Philosophy to be able to do a thing. And I also agree that The Three Galaxies are where I would expect to find an actual philosophy of transhumanism (or transdwarfism or whatever species one happens to be augmenting). I just don't think that with all of the actual trans- and post-humans running around on Rifts Earth that it's really all that rare for it to actually occur without the actual philosophy behind it. Just in RUE, there's 6 transhuman OCCs and 10 post-humans out of a total of 27 classes, that's over half the classes in the book, so I would say that a dominant philosophy of posthumanism exists, even if nobody is really cognizant of it as a philosophy.
and just for the record, I'm calling the following classes transhuman:
Combat Cyborg, Crazy, Cyber Knight, Headhunter, Juicer, City Rat.
and the following classes posthuman, though frankly, I'm expecting disagreement on the definition I'm using:
Elemental Fusionist, Ley Line Walker, Ley Line Rifter, Mystic, Shifter, Techno-Wizard, Burster, Dog Boy, Mind Melter, Psi-Stalker.
And even if you disagree with me on magic users being post-humans, that still leaves 4 clearly post-human classes, which only reduces the post/trans humans down to a bit over a third instead of a bit over half. maybe no longer dominant, but still a significant factor in the setting, and that is a very pervasive cultural meme.
We're seemingly using slightly different definitions of what we think transhumanism is, either way this actually does bring up something I've long contemplated and that did somewhat inform my statement about 'Borgs seeming odd to people who weren't 'Borgs.
This would apply to 'Borgs, Mages, Juicers, Crazies, Psychics of all kinds, etc. and it's that all of those people have access to senses and modes of interaction with the world that those unaugmented by anything will not. This will make them seem different to the unaugmented just because these people sense more of the world than they do and interact with the world in ways they cannot. If enough sensory augmentations were stacked on one person, they may trip the unaugmented's Uncanny Valley response with prolonged interaction.
'Borgs alone can be loaded with all kinds of alternate and enhanced sense. Imagine a regular dude walking into an area 'Borgs hang out in and being disturbed by the eerie silence and extremely dim lighting with a ringing undertone as the Borgs go about their socializing using radio or ultrasonics to communicate. For them, it's a regular day at the pool hall and they hear everything just fine and the light present is more than enough since they habitually enhance it, see thermals and ultraviolet and the music playing is on a private radio signal so that each of them can adjust the volume to their taste in their own heads.
To the regular guy, it looks like they're all mimeing in the dark and playing pool, for them it's just an evening at the 'Borg Club.
So it wouldn't be so much them being crazy at all, as much as them coming off really weird to the unaugmented, I just expressed it poorly. Now I do think the mindset that led them to their 'Borg life will inform their actions and behavior and lend itself to their weirdness, but I expressed it poorly before and have now had more time to think and reflect on it.
Well first the mining borg needs to repay the cost of getting converted. They also might work for some one else and get paid really bad. Perhaps they are doing for status, or support a town. They could be doing the work because they enjoy it. You should not look down on them for working to get money.
Honestly no one needs to be super rich to be comfortable, but to say because they can't feel comfort they should not want allot of money seams rather judgmental.
-After all as long as they are not hurting any one why should it mater how much money they are earning.
(also I can imagine the ore they mines is used by other people. If they where not mining there could be a lack of resouces in comunties.)
