From: Scott Badger (wbadger@psyberlink.net)
Date: Fri Jul 10 1998 - 11:10:19 MDT
Bradley Felton <zim@pobox.com> wrote:
>I think you've got this backwards. If everyone were armed, your "APD"
>types would promptly get removed from the gene pool when they went nuts,
>eliminating the problem at its source.
Yes, that's another approach. We could just kill all the APDs when they
misbehave! It seems like the crux of our differences lies in that you see
the criminal as a bad person and I see the criminal as a sick person.
>In your Brave New World scenario, where these people are sought out and
>kept sociable via happy drugs or what-have-you, they would continue to be
>fruitful and multiply.
Brave New World? Happy Drugs? Kinda stretchin things aren't ya?
Extropians would certainly consider gene therapy or drugs that were designed
to enhance our life spans or our intelligence. Why would we not be
interested in personality enhancements as well?
>Still, as individuals, we don't have a choice between these options--we can
>neither arm everyone nor initiate the Brave New World. We can only choose
>whether to empower ourselves via arms, or not.
>-Bradley Felton zim@pobox.com
I agree. I only add that neuroscience needs to continue its efforts to
understand personality structure and development so that effective
treatments can be found. BTW, APDs almost always have conduct disorder
problems as teens and many come from environments that are nurturing.
Scott Badger
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