Re: [-empyre-] Defining metacreation...

[Paul Brown <paul@paul-brown.com>]

> re. Metacreation... the term is stirring up some reaction; below is 
> a grab from [spectre] which briefly explains my intended meaning..

Another context here is Alan Kay's 1984 paper "Software" (Scientific
American Special Issue on Computers) where he described computational
process as a metamedium (since it can simulate many existing media as
well as create new ones).  Kay likes the prefix meta- though it hasn't
caught on in the mainstream - he's also applied it to the ground-breaking
operating system - Smalltalk.  There's also the contemporary use of the
word in the internet usage:  Metadata is information-about-information.

Also I find (Aliette's?) comment that the term as used by Mitchell is
abusive unacceptable.  It infers that human creation is impossible to
follow or improve on - implying it is (or humans themselves are) in some
special, supreme (or worse - hallowed) position.  This is an arrogant
assumption reeking of theocratic dogma and should be questioned.
Humans will eventually become either extinct or obsolete - there is
no doubt about this. If we want the concept of live to survive in the
universe we should emphasize the creation of our successors.

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