From: Grahame, Bob D. (bdg@mm-croy.mottmac.com)
Date: Tue Dec 17 1996 - 09:41:42 MST
Someone unknown to me (see end of message) said :-
>Am I infected with some sort of "100% natural" meme?
Seems like it to me.
If it's wrong to save a life threatened by a (relatively) simple
genetic disorder like that, then most medical practice would
be *very* wrong. Cryonics, which presupposes that genetically
determined ageing can be slowed, stopped or reveresed, would
be an anathema.
If, by letting a person die, you are saving them from an (almost) certain
life of suffering, then it may be less wrong. But if the malady stands a
good
chance of being cured, and if a long (possibly *very* long) healthy life
may lie ahead, then I think you can say you did the right thing.
Natural is what we are forced to live with. We have better ways of fixing
the
gene pool (or at least the effects of the gene pool) these days than
letting
children choke to death, as 'nature' seems to have intended...
Bob.Grahame@mottmac.com
PS. As it says in the Extropian list welcome message :-
> 2d) It is strongly recommend but not required that all list members use
a
> signature file containing their e-mail address.
My mail comes via gateways that filter out SMTP headers. If it's not in
the .sig, I don't know who is posting. I know it's a problem at my end,
but it's not fixable without buying a whole non-SMTP email
system here. I'm sure I'm not alone in this situation. Thanks.
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