|
ANNOTATION:
Human super-beings: a downside
The idea of humans being linked physically (as described in
the section titled "Human super-beings" above) is inspiring and
appealing, especially in its offer of a sort of immortality.
However, the advantage of the current mode of human survival
is that large portions of the program for human survival and
evolution are stored in relatively compact and durable units ---
namely individual human beings and small, self-sufficient human
communities.
Before linking human beings via their nervous systems we would
have to construct models and gather data to attempt to determine
whether or not such human super-beings would be more vulnerable
to major physical damage by accident or sabotage (such as
diabolical outside disinformation) as to make the creation of
such human super-beings not worth risking our main genetic and
cultural information in. What would be the dangers of placing
large numbers of our best eggs in one or two baskets?
Author: Iamnowhere (merwandaone[ at ]hotmail.com)
Date: Mar 28, 2000REPLY: Is this what we want?
This talk of the One Super-human and the supreme goal of the
survival of the species seems to openly assume that this is and
should be considered the supreme goal of individual humans. It
seems to me that life for the sole purpose of more life is no
life at all. In addition, the goal of completely linking
ourselves together is neither technically feasible at this point,
nor is it desirable from my point of view. I like having a
point of view which differs from other points of view (and is
therefore mine) but comes together in conversation (our point of
view). By making all humans One, we would make the society-
individual dialectical activity that we call life, undialectical.
By giving us total empathy it would remove the possibility of
difference, a quality of human existence that I am rather
attached to. Perhaps we would find more satisfaction and interest
in goals such as self-knowledge and awareness of the phenomena-
creating activity. We might also look into the knowledge of
producing wants and the fulfilment of them. I believe that the
survival of the species is an important goal, but it is certainly
not the Supreme Goal for me. I would rather seek to pay
attention to the life going on right now than have my supreme
fulfillment be in some unrealized, unexperienced, and perpetual
survival of the human race for no other purpose than its
survival. In point of fact, I do not even want imortality at
all. That is, anymore than I already have it. Also in dispute is
the idea that all religions are based in the search for
immortality. Although it is true that this is central to many
institutionalized religions, when I look at the writings of the
various religious teachers that founded many of the worlds major
relgions, I find that the immortality which they speak of is
vastly different than that which you, or the institutionalized
religions see as an ultimate goal. In my understanding of these
Teachings and reality by extention(or the other way around), is
not that the immortality they promise is an unending life in
which death is nonexistent, but unending being in which death as
a fundamental distinction loses its significance. The immortality
of these Teachings searches for Eternity closer to the
existential moment of reality and not further down on the linear
time scale. I think that this immortality is a more desirable
goal than that which is the perpetual continuation of a species
without any point but the increased effectiveness of us to
continue our species.
Copyright© 1997 Principia Cybernetica -
Referencing this page
|
|
|
