Re: "...trying to kill me!"

First of all, forgive me if I phrased things in an immoderate
(perhaps paranoid) way. As I said, these things make me angry and
this doesn't always lead to the most productive discourse.

> of ourselves. the technology for significant
> longevity doesn't exist yet,

and my concern is that it may not ever exist if these people have
their way.

>
> given that the various posthuman futures we each
> envision are projected fictions at present, theres no
> absolute justification for assuming that one view is
> right and another wrong. I make this point against
> the "religion-bashing" I see in here.

If you believe God forbids indefinitely extending human lifespan and
that it is your responsibility to enforce God's will, your view is
wrong. And it is not just incorrect, it is harmful, as it will
needlessly condemn people to death, a moral evil in any appealing
system of ethics I can imagine.

>
> how do we know a technocentric world view is superior
> to a spiritual or ethnocentric world view? (note
> current global conflict, based on this issue) the
> jury is still out on whether a world with posthuman
> technologies is neccesarily better than a world
> without them; eg. possession of technology increases
> power, which is as easily abused as religious power,
> and potentially much more devestating.

Obviously, there are dangers in the application of new technologies,
and these should be addressed in rational ways, but banning basic
research for fear of God is not the answer. Extending lifespan
indefinitely will not solve all of the problems of life. Indeed, a
magnification of our powers may accentuate the existential crises we
already encounter. If it is hard to know what one should do now,
when our options are so limited, how much more vertiginous will our
perspective be when broad vistas of power and possibility spread out
before us.

Still retreating before the challenges, seems to me cowardly. The
hesitations of the religious I feel are but destructive
maladaptations to the fear of death. They've sold their freedom for
a stable worldview and that is fine, except that it is a wordlview
that needlessly limits the possibilities of others. Therefore, I
don't consider it "religion-bashing" to rail against the threat posed
these folks.

Respectfully,
Hugh
Received on Wed Feb 19 10:58:56 2003