From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net)
Date: Fri Aug 29 2003 - 18:14:08 MDT
--- Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
> The Allknowing detected this for me:
>
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030829/CONUHUMAN29/TPTechnology
>
> How perfect do we want to be?
>
> In seeking immortality and other godlike
> attributes,
> we risk our very humanity, says ethicist MARGARET
> SOMERVILLE
>
> At least a pleasantly non-shrill tone of criticism,
> and I
> think it is worth considering what our answer to her
> ought
> to be.
Technically, she is correct. There is a reason we
call our desired state "transhuman" or "posthuman": it
is not humanity as we currently know it. The
difference lies in the valuation: she values humanity
in and of itself, presenting the unknown and imperfect
as intrinsically worth saving in their present state.
We reject that point of view, at least with respect to
our own lives. (If others wish to remain in the dark,
that in itself is their right - though it does not
excuse any actions they may take out of that ignorance
that harm others, and we may view education to remove
the igorance as the most expedient way to prevent such
actions.)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Aug 29 2003 - 18:25:37 MDT