From: Scott Badger (wbadger@psyberlink.net)
Date: Mon Jul 06 1998 - 06:02:51 MDT
On Sun, 5 Jul 1998, John K Clark wrote:
> >2. Won't transhuman technologies make us inhuman?
>
> Possibly inhuman certainly unhuman.
This question occurred to me as well. If the questioner means *Will we
become inhumane?*, I have to ask *Inhumane to who?* I imagine there will be
a sizable segment of the society that will turn down the opportunity to
transmogrify (real word?) into a posthuman. How much compassion will we
have for these humans once we've evolved? Well, if it ends up being as big
of an evolutionary leap as I expect it to be, we probably won't act in an
inhumane way toward them as much as we will simply be disinterested. How
much compassion does the average human currently display for apes? Yes, we
protect them and study them and are even occassionally entertained by them,
but by in large we're just too engaged in human activities to be very
interested in what they're doing.
If the questioner means *Will we become inhumane to each other?* . . . hmmm.
I think it more likely that we will become posthumane. I believe that
transhumans will communicate on levels beyond most people's imagination.
With better communication will come better understanding which leads to
greater empathy and compassion.
> >3. Isn't death part of the natural order of things?
>
> Yes and nature sucks.
I think it would be more persuasive to point out that for many organisms on
the planet, death is not a natural thing at all (e.g. cancer cells, amoeba
...I think). Death has certainly been instrumental for the purposes of
natural selection (I know, I know...natural selection *has* no purpose), but
we're no longer obeying the laws of natural selection anyway (are we?).
Point to the growing opinion among those doing research in the field that
aging appears to be encoded at the cellular level and it's likely we will
eventually find the means to gain control over the internal clock.
> >4. Won't extended lifespans cause overpopulation problems?
>
> Probably not.
Probably will. If I know human beings, we won't solve this problem until we
absolutely have to. The thing is, this is going to be a problem we're going
to have to face with or without transhumanism. It's just a matter of the
time scale.
> >5. Will only the rich and powerful have access to augmentation?
>
> Nobody knows.
agree
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