In a message dated 2/5/00 2:27:03 PM Central Standard Time,
bryan.moss@dial.pipex.com writes:
> - It's a law *based on the acceptance of evolution*.
>
> - It cuts through our illusions of divinity.
>
> - It weakens arguments that transhumanity is 'inhuman'
> (or at the very least implies divergent species should
> be granted the same basic rights as humans).
>
> - It sets a wonderful precedent for our super-intelligent
> progeny.
This pretty much sums up my thinking that leads to the conclusion that we
should grant some kind of limited "legal person" status to some non-human
animals, although I think I'd "explode" your second point to explain that
many of the qualities of subjective experience we cite as justification for
the legal status of person (although those aren't the only rationales for
that status) are shared by some other animals.
The last two points are the ones that seem to have the most pragmatic
importance, from an extropian point of view. They are actually the
principles that will be of greatest importance before (in the third point)
and after (in the fourth point) the development of true "super-human" beings
in avoiding the terrible visions of the transhuman Civil War that sometimes
haunt my dreams of the future. (See:
http://www.hip.atr.co.jp/~degaris/essays/COSMISM.html)
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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