X-Message-Number: 17944 Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 21:21:19 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: Re: Hierarchy of Needs Mark Plus says: >We must "study," which in its 18th Century meaning also imcluded the >idea of "practice," wealth-building, anti-aging, reversible biostasis, etc., >NOW, so that we'll have the temporal freedom to study cosmic dust, building >"friendly AI's," conspiracy theories, how to behave in simulations and other >currently IRRELEVANT obsessions I've noticed among some people who should >know better. This makes it sound like an either-or proposition, as if pursuing certain "irrelevant" topics will unduly divert attention from the more immediate or relevant ones. My feeling is that this need not be so, and in fact, what one should seek is the right balance of both. Both are actually important. What seems irrelevant today is (often, at least) important for the larger issues of what we hope to find in the future we so earnestly seek, why life is important enough to radically extend, what does it really mean to extend "your" life anyway, and so on. A certain amount of attention to these topics creates motivation that would otherwise be lacking in the pursuit of the more immediate issues such as antiaging and cryopreservation. One should not go overboard in focusing too narrowly, either on the immediate or the longterm issues, but, as in many other pursuits, seek a happy medium. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17944