From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Wed Nov 29 2000 - 21:45:52 MST
Anders Sandberg wrote,
> The central question here is: will people retain love? I think rather
> few of us would deliberately remove such feelings from ourselves, even
> if they have their basis in "primitive" evolutionary reasons.
Uh-oh, the clear light of neuroscience has come to reveal a glimpse of
verisimilitude here. Yep, I can see the borgs now, they're producing
surges of activity in their anterior cingulate cortexes, middle insulas
and in parts of their putamen and caudate nuclei -- all generated by their
Palm GX-9000 with Sensoria VR auxilliary customizations. Ah... ain't love
grand?
"Pass the bong," one of them murmurs.
>We still
> turn even the basic need for food into complex cultural events with
> high symbolic and social significance ("dinner"), and I doubt a
> posthuman would make itself unable to enjoy a meal even if it was
> powered in other ways. Radical technology doesn't seem to imply that
> we *remove* much of our current selves, but that we extend them in new
> ways, redefining and refining them.
Well, sure. I mean that's what *I* use porn for. Marriage doesn't need to
enter into it. (Okay, I admit I've had a few extended conversations with
the checker at Blockbuster, but hey, we'll get over it without a nuptial
entanglement... please!)
> As for that the social forms these basic feelings take, that is
> another matter. Marriage is just one possibility. I have faith in
> (post)human creativity to come up with many more.
Holy sheep dip! I'm glad to hear you say that. Those of us who wish to,
can continue to enjoy wedded bliss while inventing a future that provides
possibilities that only a borg can fully comprehend and appreciate. I
think we've pretty much worked ourselves out of this box. Borgs can
provide social relationships to order. End of story.
No kidding,
--J. R.
"It's better to be hated for what you are,
than loved for what you are not"
"Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing
there is a field. I'll meet you there." -RUMI-
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