[LIF/SOC] Re: Union, was Re: Marriage!

From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Wed Nov 29 2000 - 12:47:46 MST


Michael M. Butler wrote,
> Might be that technology could lead to the first really "unsunderable"
> union.

That doesn't seem likely to me, because the divorce rate seems to parallel
the rate of technological advance.

Dan Fabulich wrote,
> Borganization has a lot in common with marriage, though it has some
> obvious differences. I expect Borganization to be an increasingly
> popular option in years to come.

I'll drink to that! Sounds like a cyborg orgy ("borgy"?). Instead of
proposing marriage, partners could invite each other to borgy together, to
commune beyond biology.

David Barrera wrote,
> OK, but is love a feeling?.
> I don't think so. I just think that it's a sense, that directs the rest
of
> our senses in a way that normally follows a pattern.

I think Max More covered this in his earlier post. To wit:
> Most studies of which parts of the brain are stimulated by emotions have
> focused on "negative" emotions, especially fear. But here are some
results
> for love. Next time you're gazing at your sweetheart, you can say: "My
> darling, as I look into your eyes, I sense a surge in activity in my
> anterior cingulate cortex, middle insula and in parts of my putamen and
> caudate nucleus." :-)
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/11/08/love.in.lights.ap/index.html

scenir added:
http://www.vislab.ucl.ac.uk/
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news_224636.html
http://www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0800/news/264a.html
http://www.beyond2000.com/news/Jul_00/story_704.html
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/love000707.html

Dan Fabulich continued,
> I don't think any of us have a clear idea as to what will become of our
> strong emotions like love if/when we become posthuman. That question
> has a lot in common with the perennial "What would it feel like to be
> a posthuman?"

Even more esoteric is the question: What would it feel like to be a
*married* posthuman.

> Maybe we'd feel something that felt just like love for the rest of the
> members of our Borg. But darned if I know.

Blessed if you know. Personally, I speculate that I'd rather borganize
than marry. (But hey! nobody has asked me -- yet.)

Brian D Williams wrote,
> How about Love?
>
> I know, I know, hopeless romantic.....

See the URLs cited above.
(There's nothing hopeless about romance. Romance is all about hope.)

Michael M. Butler wrote,
> Oh? What about Morganatic marriages and corporate mergers?

I don't know about Morganatic marriages... whazzat? As for corporations,
remember that they can't own real estate (according to California RE law)
as joint tenants, because corporations never die (so they can't assign
property to surviving spouses). Perhaps borgs will come under the same
laws as corporations. Maybe Greg Burch has considered this. In any event,
corporate law now differs dramatically from divorce/marriage law. I
suppose marriage will go the way of chivalry and knights in shining
armor -- or perhaps it will go the way of phlogiston and vitalism. <g>

Stay hungry,

--J. R.
3M TA3

"It is enough that the people know there was an election.
The people who cast the votes decide nothing.
The people who count the votes decide everything." --Joseph Stalin



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