Re: RE: BIOTECH: artificial wombs in six years?

From: animated silicon love doll (cheshire@velvet.net)
Date: Thu Jan 24 2002 - 14:34:23 MST


2002.01.24 1:08:49, Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:

>This is of course true, and that is maybe the worst part: to many,
>Rifkin is the best source of information about what the next big thing
>will be in biosciences. This is a function we better supplant!

yes indeed! (but it's still good for me as a microcosm!)

>Well, technology in itself is not good or bad, it is uses of it which have to
>be evaluated. I think artificial wombs would be largely beneficial; I had a
>fun discussion with a friend (who has also been a mother) about this, and she
>was even more in favor of external wombs than me. But she told me the
>reactions to the idea when she brought it up at her work was very negative,
>especially from the women - while at the same time they laughed merrily at
>the idea of male pregnancies. Which to me suggests a strategy to loosen up a
>bit of rigid thinking about reproduction.

true true.... although the only really not good application i can think of for an artificial
womb is some madman trying to breed an army, which has already been established as
fairly ludicrous.
honestly, i'm rather divided on them. i think overall it's a good technology. but i remember
when i was very much in a girl headspace, the one thing that caused me the most grief
was that i would never be able to *bear* children. i could adopt, or get a surrogate
mother, or now use an artificial womb - but i had (and still do, very rarely) an urge to go
through the whole process in it's "natural" state.
but since we wouldn't be forcing anyone to use these, that's a moot point (and if i could
bear children, i probably would); and the potential for letting couples who otherwise
couldn't have children have them is simply wonderful.

and now for something completely different: anders, it was your page that introduced me
to transhumanism. i cannot thank you enough.

cheshire morgan. we all create life, some of us with wombs,
                        some with smiles, some with patient hands.
                        we are all gods, if we choose to be.
                                -kitten.



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