At 03:39 PM 12/17/01 -0800, Robert wrote:
>Another optimistic piece includes an interview with Dr. Haseltine.
>http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/18/health/genetics/18HASE.html
Yep, bloody good stuff:
=============
< Some people find immortality disturbing, seeing it as transgressing the
line that separates people from gods. Dr. Haseltine sees it as an inherent
property of life.
"What distinguishes life from other forms of matter is that it is immortal
- we are a 3.5-billion-year-old molecule," he said, referring to the time
when life on earth began. "If it were ever mortal, we would not be here.
The fundamental property of DNA is its immortality. The problem is to
connect that immortality with human immortality and, for the first time, we
see how that may be possible." >
==========
Very nice memetic approach. Philosophically it's nonsense, being an
`is-to-ought' claim, but many otherwise bemused folks will be soothed by
this perspective, I think.
I'm starting to think it might be worth doing a drastically updated edition
of THE LAST MORTAL GENERATION and trying to flog it to the US publishers...
Damien Broderick
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