Re: TMS...the truth is out there...

From: Alex Ramonsky (alex@ramonsky.com)
Date: Fri Jun 27 2003 - 01:54:44 MDT

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    Samantha Atkins wrote:

    >On Thursday 26 June 2003 21:04, Spike wrote:
    >
    >
    >>Brett Paatsch:
    >>
    >>
    >>>
    >>>
    >>Surgical removal of guilt feelings would be a wildly
    >>popular application of such a technology, were it
    >>to become available. Of course one would suffer
    >>condemnation from *every* major religion, this
    >>being their jealously guarded line of business,
    >>in which they would not welcome additional competition.
    >>
    >>
    >
    >Really, such butchery to produce an artificial relief rather than facing and
    >dealing with the feelings does seem rather contemptible.
    >
    Oh, hasty judgement! ...have you ever _had_ PTSD? : )

    > Not that I am
    >saying guilt is a good thing but rather that getting done with it is an
    >important part of growth and self-responsibility.
    >
    It's not removing guilt, it's removing _the ability to feel guilt_. In
    my opinion 'guilt' is a symptom of mental disorder due to malfunction.
    There is no reason for an intelligent, neurologically healthy person to
    ever feel it. If they have done nothing deliberately that they know to
    be bad, what is there to feel guilty about? Mistakes should not invoke
    guilt; mistakes happen to everybody and we all know that and accept it.
    And if someone is being an a-hole on purpose, they're unlikely to feel
    guilty, because they're an a-hole...
    Where does that leave a place for guilt, apart from filling you full of
    hormones that make you sick and shortening your lifespan?
    Also, let's not mislead people... TMS is not surgery...d'you think we
    should change the subject title?

    >It has nothing to do with
    >religion to disapprove of such misuse of technology.
    >
    Yes I agree. However, wiping 'guilt' is not, for me, a misuse of
    technology but part of the cure for a malfunction, so perhaps it is
    hasty to use the word 'misuse'? ... a lot of people think stem-cell
    cloning is 'misuse'...you know what I mean?

    [re: guilt]
    No, it doesn't. Not if it is dealt with intelligently.

    ...That's why I asked about the PTSD...ever-increasing guilt about your
    inability to cope, and your inability to stop experiencing horrid things
    against your will, can utterly destroy your life...Please take a fair
    look at what is really going on before condemnation, as I feel you may
    have missed many of the potential benefits of this technique in
    focussing on a possibility of misuse? I could be wrong, and you may come
    back to me having found out much more and still think it's bad news,
    which is your prerogative, obviously...and it is certainly a very good
    idea to try to prevent genuine misuse (ie, without informed consent)...
    But I fear perhaps casually using words like 'butchery' is a bit unjust,
    considering all the people who have been helped by this, including
    myself, who are very grateful for it, I can tell you.
    I hope you don't find this offensive; I am just asking that we be
    careful of mistaking rumor (or even amusing stories : ) ) for the
    facts, as this is quite important to me.
    Best,
    Ramonsky

    >
    >
    >- samantha
    >
    >
    >
    >



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