Re: >H gender apartheid and transhumanists

Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Wed, 4 Nov 1998 15:19:50 -0800 (PST)

It's odd, I did not see the posting from 'den otter', only snippets of it, so if someone could repost, that would be helpful.

I believe that my original posting may have been misunderstood. My intention was twofold: (i) to alert people to factual information about the situation, and (ii) to suggest that this might provide a good opportunity for some transhumanists to make their voice heard in new venues. By making our voice heard, I do not mean calling for the political overthrow of Afghanistan. This situation has poltical overtones, but it touches on many transhumanist themes, and it provides an opportunity to showcase them to people who have not yet heard our ideas.

We support individual autonomy and reasonable freedom from government regulation--this situation represents government regulation in an extreme degree. We support an individual's control over their own body--that control has been taken away. We support science--medical research is being used as the basis for a human rights campaign, for the first time in recent memory. We support longevity programs--the deprivation of sunlight and medical care only shortens the lifespans of these women and children with no hope of medically reversing the effects. We support rational thought and denouce religious superstition--there is no rational basis for dividing an entire population by their genital composition and imprisoning those who possess one particular set of them. An entire nation socially de-evolved overnight--one year from the vaunted millenium in which many of us will be speaking out on the potential of the future for every human.

What this boils down to, for me, is that transhumanism does not just involve the distant future, it involves the potential that exists in every human this very minute to evolve, grow, and develop. When that potential is cut off in such a drastic manner, for no reason other than superstition, then I don't see it as so far off the beam to at least suggest that some of us might like to make a statement about it.

But, I leave that choice to each of you. I've made the statement that I need to make here.

Kathryn Aegis