RE: Mind/Body dualism What's the deal?

Natasha,

oops, sorry I've written some stupis stuff haven't I, I should no better. The trouble about wrtting posts rathre than talking is that you can't say everything you want to, iwth the right tone. I apologise to all that that mail may have offended, I didn't mean to suggest that all those who went into plastic surgery (yep I did forget about the differnece betwen cosmetic and plastic) only do it because they have low self esteem. Though yu've also got to take into account that I'm from the UK, and cosmetic surgey isn't as widely used here as in the US - though that isn't any excuse, and I should have noted that this was by no way the only motives behing the surgery. And the motives are not always dependent on psychological reasons either, econmic circumstances also play a part, though I think cosmetic surgery is getting cheaper. I think there is still a certain stigma attached to those who undertake cosmetic surgery in the UK, this may explain why transhumanism is as popular here as it is in the US  - our cultures are very different in some respects.

> >However, the argument that people with low self-esteem are more prone to improve themselves is a myth. Each and every time a person takes a vitamin or drinks a glass of water, does yoga, meditates, skies down a mountain, takes a shower, he feels better about himself. Does this mean the person who does athletics or eats well or practices a positive outlook on life has low self-esteem? I don't think so. Cosmetic enhancements are fairly common today. A person who has surgery to enhance or improve himself does it for any number of reasons: 1. forehead lift and upper blepharoplasty because the pressure on the head causes headaches; or because it gives a more youthful appearance; 2. face lift: a more youthful appearance; 3. rhinoplasty because it reconstructs the nose for better breathing and reduces snoring and/or because it makes the nose more attractive; 4. silk-touch laser helps refinish the skin taking away sun spots which can cause skin cancers such as melanomas or! > other carcinomas; 5. lip enhancements to get the pouchy look which is stylish and some people do feel uncomfortable about thin lips, especially women because it symbolizes their sex organ. > >I'm concerned that you might think any of the above procedures is performed because a patient suffers from low self-esteem. While this certainly could be a significant reason, wanting to look better is not such a profound personality disorder as I think some may interpret it to be.

I really don't think it's a personality disorder, I was just focusing in on one of the motives I have pondered on particularly becaause of my masters paper. As you know it's on attitudes to the modification of the body through technology, and some of the attitudes of those who are aganst these enhancements are grounded in the beleif that the human body is perfently fine, that it should be left as God intended and so on. (I'm sure you've heard the same arguemnt on your travels). Of course, I should have mentioned other attitudes that I have come across also, this would have balancd my ideas out more. Thanks for pointing out to me the one sidedness of my words.

>I think that what I'm asking is that you sashay out of the box of judging folks who are into resculpting themselves for either health reasons or beautification and consider the transhumanist times we live in. If it is possible, doesn't cost too much, and will help to make our lives happier, people will do it mainly because they love life or miss the life they love

But then, health is kind of behind the reason for wanting to enjoy one's again - isn't transhumanism about progressing past the limits of the body? - well that means going past the heatlth problems first, such as illness, functional degradation, disease and so on. So there is a definite desire to improve the health of the body. yeah?

 >The idea that a person or persons who want to improve on the fragile design of the human body as being “obsessed” with their bodies lacks knowledge, objectivity and vision. Today there is a much journalistic lingo being used to measure ideas rather than dealing with the intelligent concerns about the issues.