From: Brian Atkins (brian@posthuman.com)
Date: Wed Jun 02 1999 - 20:05:38 MDT
Spike Jones wrote:
>
> Michael S. Lorrey wrote:... If it is seen as common that all
>
> > are immortal, and that immortality is some sort of right, would not imposing
> > death of any kind be seen as too excessive to allow as a punishment for a crime
> > or for a defense against a criminal in the act. Thoughts, anyone?
>
> Mike, the thing that concerns me more than this is the notion that
> if some of us achieve immortality (or greatly extended lifespans)
> through extreme effort, cost and discipline, that we would be targeted
> by those who choose short lifespans. Look around you: most people
> choose to shorten their own lives in one way or another. I ride
> motorcycles, way too quickly, for instance. In general, people
> eat terribly unhealthfully, drink way too much, *smoke* tobacco still,
> among other life shortening habits. I could easily see how some
> misguided, deliberately short lived person would see an immortal
> as a threat to mother earth, or some such foolishness, and would
> try to identify and kill us. spike
For a sci-fi approach, the forthcoming book Cassini Division
by Ken MacLeod sounds just like what you are talking about. The
previous two books in the series are available from Amazon UK.
-- Join the ExI/>H SETI team today: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/cgi?cmd=team_show&id=393------------------------------------------------------------------- "It IS possible." - Vincent, _Gattaca_
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