Re: Cryonics propaganda...

dwayne (dwayne@pobox.com)
Tue, 08 Jun 1999 14:59:26 +1000

"Joe E. Dees" wrote:
>
> Date sent: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 05:41:41 -0700 (PDT)
> From: mark@unicorn.com
> To: extropians@extropy.com
> Subject: Re: Cryonics propaganda...
> Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
>
> > dwayne [dwayne@pobox.com] wrote:
> > >We as a species spend FAR too much time and effort trying to work out
> > >how to reduce ourselves back to beasts, and not enough time trying to
> > >improve ourselves. Which is, I feel, the main problem with the gun
> > >thread, I'd rather the effort went into making people better than
> > >working out how to keep bad people away.
> >
> > Only a few big problems with that one:
> >
> > 1. Who decides what's 'better'?

Well, I'd say "you do", personally.

> The courts and psychiatric boards can decide who are well enough
> to keep and bear (those who are never convicted of violent crimes
> or judged mentally incompetent), and who we are better off kepping
> guns from (those who are).

As opposed to what I am saying in my point above: we're not adult enough as a society to be allowed such dangerous toys (like owning a pistol or a rifle will make it possible to overthrow the govt, hahahah)

> > 3. What if those 'bestial' aspects of human personality are actually vital
> > to its future development?

I don't want to live in such a society if possible.

> > I'm not terribly surprised that most transhuman
> > developments come out of a country which supports 'bestial' ideas like
> > competition and self-reliance, for example.

Sure, but where do the researchers come from? Other countries.

> > 4. If people become 'better' then why shouldn't they own and carry guns?

Why should they need to threaten others to be left alone?

> If they became better, why would they need them, and if they
> remain vulnerable to the plagues of vilent aggressiveness and
> insanity, how can we trust those who have been documented as
> succumbing to same?

Exactly.

Dwayne

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