From: Simon McClenahan (SMcClenahan@ATTBI.com)
Date: Tue Mar 05 2002 - 14:54:03 MST
From: "Natasha Vita-More" <natasha@natasha.cc>
> These products are similar to the products early Egyptian men and women
> used to enhance facial features and the body. In civilizations around the
> world, people have tried to enhance and/or beautify themselves for
> political, social and sexual reasons.
And all of these external beautification methods are all proven working
techniques for those reasons listed. It's the end-goal for these
justifications that are the issue. For example, if I currently have a sexual
mate, how much resource should I continue to invest in my sexual (external)
beauty? If I decide a little or a lot, it affects whether my sexual mate
continues to contribute to the sexual relationship system or not. What I'm
trying to say in a roundabout way is that receiving positive feedback
resulting from the efforts of achieving your external beauty state is to be
expected, since positive feedback or action is the purpose. Lamenting over
not having your inner beauty acknowledged in the same way is a different
issue, since the broadcast or communication of inner beauty requires much
different techniques than that of external beauty.
I posted a message recently about what I thought (external) beauty would be
like in a transhuman or posthuman view, but no-one responded. Oh well. In
short, I predicted that the most (externally) beautiful people will be naked
humans - obvious, I know - where nakedness implies no visible or perceived
external enhancements to the body. This includes cybernetic devices,
enhancement technology. I would even go further and say that even jewelry,
piercings, makeup, etc. will become out of vogue. A natural human would be
most beautiful to a posthuman.
> Inner beauty can be seen on the outside if one takes the time to look and
> to listen. Our facial expressions cannot truly hide the mechanics of our
> minds.
That's a bold statement, even though I mostly agree with it. What's
important is that the individual has control over whether to expose their
inner workings or not. It is possible to "persuade" someone to expose
themselves against their concious will. And people who have great control
over their perceived behaviour are actors, and there are many techniques
that can be used to be a skillful actor.
> The vehicle we transport ourselves in (our bodies) reflects our
> level of self-esteem and attention to detail.
> The brain is affected by negative input and output. Each thought we have
> affects our minds, affecting our lives.
This is why actors are celebrities. They understand this, though not
necessarily at a concious level. I think that when an understanding leaves
the concious level where one can fluently describe it, it then goes into the
realm of "art".
> Hal Finney mentioned in a separate thread that mental illness could be
one
> circumstance that would result in the inability of humanity to reach
> extreme life extension. I think mental illness (including emotional
> illness) is one of humanity most common illness today, more common than
the
> cold.
Not only today, but in history as well. Probably also in the future. But I
guess I am talking about a wider spectrum of illness, which includes non
life-threatening illnesses such as negative input/output as you already
commented on.
> Probably the best application for AI today would be
> to assist the human brain in dealing with emotional problems and rewiring
> repeated unhealthy behavior.
I agree, except for the "best application" qualifier. There is a symbiotic
relationship between the mind and the body. I would even consider them the
same entity. I think the best applications for AI today would be to assist
both the human mind and the human body or physique. In other words, both
inner (mind) beauty, and outer (body) beauty.
> Stepping back from Primo's future and into our own hands, inner beauty is
> really about how we respond to the world around us. What we choose to
> focus on and our moment-to-moment assessment of our environment.
>
> 1. Do a Self-Examination
> 2. Take Control of Your Thoughts
> 3. Develop a Plan
> 4. Cultivate A Support System
> 5. Take Time for Yourself
Good brief pragmatic advice for enhancing both the inner and outer self. I
would not downplay the importance of the outer beauty, since it has a
significant symbiotic relationship with our inner beauty as well. And, dare
I say it risking being accused of anthropomorphism, this advice could
probably be well taken by a robot/AI as well.
cheers,
Simon
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:12:47 MST