From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Thu Jan 24 2002 - 01:08:49 MST
On Wed, Jan 23, 2002 at 05:27:20PM -0700, animated silicon love doll wrote:
> 2002.01.23 5:07:20, Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
>
> >This is actually why he is so dangerous. If he had just been screaming that
> >technology is turning us inhuman, then he would have been yet another
> >irrelevant luddite. But Rifkin writes in fairly clear manner, with a less
> >obvious bias that still underlies everything he says. Quite a few journalists
> >and other people have learned about genetics and other new technology from
> >his books, and the books do not appear to be heavily biased to them - which
> >results in them getting a bias in their understanding of their subject. Then
> >they go on writing articles and making decisions based on this.
> >
> >We can learn a lot from that.
>
> oh dear. yes, that is bad. anyway, though - i wouldn't know about the technology, period,
> if it wasn't for him.
This is of course true, and that is maybe the worst part: to many,
Rifkin is the best source of information about what the next big thing
will be in biosciences. This is a function we better supplant!
> i'm sure i would find out sooner or later - but since i am smart enough to
> see that artificial wombs are good things (and i would hope everyone else here is, too!),
> i'd say at least in the context of this list, the article had a positive effect.
Well, technology in itself is not good or bad, it is uses of it which have to
be evaluated. I think artificial wombs would be largely beneficial; I had a
fun discussion with a friend (who has also been a mother) about this, and she
was even more in favor of external wombs than me. But she told me the
reactions to the idea when she brought it up at her work was very negative,
especially from the women - while at the same time they laughed merrily at
the idea of male pregnancies. Which to me suggests a strategy to loosen up a
bit of rigid thinking about reproduction.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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