X-Message-Number: 16895 Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 20:12:48 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: Values Dave Pizer and others have expressed some views on values, with apparently the idea that a "selfish" orientation is not as good as a more altruistic one. My remedy is to consider *enlightened* self-interest, and particularly the idea that life should not terminate after a few decades as it does now. With this in mind, it is easy to argue that consideration for fellow beings should be important, without requiring any denial that selfish interests, on some level, are really all that matter or can matter for the individual. If you're going to be sharing the same reality with someone else for centuries and more, it makes sense to be on good terms with that person, and even to seek interactions that will mutually benefit. With sufficient enlightenment, I'll conjecture, all selfish values become universal values, shared equally, thus you could call them inherent values. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=16895