From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Tue Dec 28 1999 - 09:57:30 MST
On Mon, 27 Dec 1999 Replicant00@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 12/22/1999 4:35:08 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au writes:
>
> << Yr revulsion is pretty much how I feel, Kathryn, at seeing remarks on this
> list (either callously candid or sophomorically jesting) - there forever in
> the archives for everyone to see - extolling the joys of rape. >>
>
> Yes I agree.
> Within jest lies seeds of truth. Rape is a terrible thing. The man who wrote
> that surely does not represent the men of this forum.
As Bryan subsequently mentioned he was *NOT* "extolling the joys of rape".
He *was* pointing out the problem of when one persons "desires"
(or in my terms "drives") come into conflict with those of another.
This can be relabled in the form of (a) someone in an apartment wanting
to play their stereo loud enough to disturb a neighbor, or in my
situation -- my wanting to enjoy peace, quiet and the rights of
"private property" and having that disturbed by neighbors that
(a) have loud children playing outside; (b) like to sit in their yard
and listen to baseball games [on those few days when it is warm
enough in Seattle that I need to have my windows open to cool my house]
or (c) people not controlling their pets, esp. cats, resulting in my having
to remove their excrement from my yard.
In all of these cases the action(s) other individual(s) is forcing
you to endure something you would prefer not having to endure.
Some may object to my lumping in rape with these other situations,
but the only difference is a the self-perceived degree of "personal"
violation and where society has chosen to draw the lines of "legal"
and "illegal" actions. As others and I have pointed out, extensions
your "rights" using technologies we currently have (low cost cameras,
face recognition software) or can envision (gene therapies to remove
"bad" genes that make people more prone to violence), produce results
that range from a loss of personal privacy to a mandated legal
modification of your body.
The swamp of where your rights end and mine begin is very very
mucky indeed. The true and ultimate problem that we as Extropians
and Transhumanists must face is the problem of how to balance the
desires of a majority with the inherent rights of minorities
(especially when you consider the probable range of sentience
that "minorities" may include in the future).
On the forthcoming New Year's day, we may all want to give thanks
that the very matter from which our bodies are composed has not been
torn from us by SIs that probably have better uses for it. Or
if your are a pessimist regarding the probability for life in
the Universe, be very very thankful that we are first. While
rape is certainly a very heinous crime on the scale of tragedies
available to us it is -- relatively speaking -- a speck of dust.
Robert
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