At 11:21 PM 2/17/01, Hal wrote:
>Actually here in California they are not called pets and owners anymore.
>Pets are companions and owners are guardians. Some cities are re-writing
>their legal codes to use the new approved terminology. "Pet" is becoming
>politically incorrect.
I don't have a problem with that. So long as the law gives "guardians" the
same rights against other people taking away their animal companions, I
think this is a sensible change of mindset. I really don't own my cats in
the same way that I own a mindless object. Thinking in terms of varying
shades of ownership relation should help prepare us for relationships with
various degrees of machine intelligence.
Max
_______________________________________________________
Max More,
max@maxmore.com or more@extropy.org
www.maxmore.com
President, Extropy Institute. www.extropy.org
Senior Content Architect, ManyWorlds Inc.: www.manyworlds.com
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