From: Skye (skyezacharia@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Oct 15 2000 - 10:13:55 MDT
--- Samantha Atkins <samantha@objectent.com> wrote:
> Spike Jones wrote:
> >
>
> > Sure, and this answer will be surely echoed from
> others, but the question
> > to me is: why is it that so many of us seem to
> have this unquestioned
> > instinct to use our dying breath attempting to
> download to surviving
> > humanity those insights we have managed to gain?
> Im not arguing
> > this is not a good thing to do, I just cannot
> figure out exactly why.
Another, possible view into this question may be that
impending death brings on a sense of powerlessness,
which is only curable by basically telling everyone
how to be you- I think that people who are dying fear
losing control over their environment-somewhat
paradoxically, admittedly, since it won't be their
environment much longer, but I think the brain's
complete knowledge of what to do at death is actually
stemming from it's inability to recognize so much what
death really is. Either that, or it's realization
that if it passes on enough of it's memetic systems,
so to speak, then it will still maintain some control
over the environment even after it is gone- sort of
like an anti-ghost. Where a ghost (if it existed)
would still see the world and move through it, but not
touch (at least, according to some mythos), a memetic
ghost would touch the world blindly, executing
commands through other people, who will hopefully not
be so blind.
Sometimes I imagine our culture growing senescent from
all this dead tissue, but I think the fear is
unfounded. We've got some rather good trimming
mechanisms for knowledge that isn't important to us.
You may still remember how to sew, but you might not
remember the face of the great grandmother that taught
you, or whatever.
=====
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