>Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 10:14:45 -0400 (EDT)
>From: "Alex F. Bokov" <alexboko@umich.edu>
>Subject: Re: "...Death is an evil" (Sappho 630 BC)
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>On Tue, 2 Oct 2001, Damien Broderick wrote:
> > If something like this were shown to be true, death literally would be
> seen
> > as a disease, akin to kuru. Medical means might be found to block the
> prion
> > form and promote benign conformations. What then for the pious? Must we
> > assume that God has allowed this vile disorder for our own good, or even
> > cast it upon humankind as a punishment? But if that's so, it must apply as
> > well to other illnesses, yet even the pious, unless they are very odd,
> seek
> > cures for infections and heart conditions, etc. Why not for death?
>I doubt it's prions, but hey, I'm wrong more and more these days.
>Whatever the cause of aging, infectious, genetic, or thermodynamic, it
>IS a disease. Once we nail it, I'm sure it will be the same damn
>Darwin and Galileo crap all over again. If the 'pious' are still the
>dominant culture when this happens they'll put us on trial, maybe kill
>us, and then quietly make their peace with us a century or two later
>(if they're still around and I'm not too optimistic).
>What we need is a separate, and well-defended nation founded on
>rational principles and governed in an anarcho-capitalist manner so we
>can all move there and carry on our work, giving the rest of humanity
>some time and space to catch up.
Finally, someone who is prepared to say it aloud! We need an
"experimental" country based on the Extropian Principles/Transhumanist
ideals that can be "tweaked" and modified. This would certainly get
big-time press for these concepts. A working system based on these ideas
would show the robustness of the philosophy, plus get a good share of
immigration as it would likely be far less restrictive of its citizenry.
I'd been toying with the idea of writing a constitution for such a nation,
but I'm just not up to the job. Any takers? :))
Of course, where would we put it?
James...
>- - --
>gun Constitution militia
>Why are the above words in my signature? Check out:
>http://www.echelon.wiretapped.net
>
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"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and
crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures
to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."
-Q, Star Trek:TNG episode 'Q Who'
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