X-Message-Number: 26380 Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:33:05 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: Comments to Seidel & Basie msgs For Bill Seidel: I know very well how you feel but saying that most people can't think seems a bit strong. I suspect that they problem is that most people don't WANT to think about death, because they believe no way exists to avoid it. The only way to convince such people of the merits of cryonics requires them to first think about death itself; not a strategy likely to work. For CoetzeeBasie: (By the way, what is your real name? In the normal first name - last name format). As for the ethics of creating consciousness, people do that all the time when they produce children. If we're ever able to create a conscious machine (I've raised problems even on Cryonet about doing that with any present computer no matter how large) I see no ethical problems in doing so. I do see problems as to whether or not doing so would be very wise, though not for any kind of conscious device, only for some kinds. And if the basics of ethics comes from the decision not to do unwise acts, then it's unethical. However I'd add that such grounds for ethics seem not to fit the acts we think of as ethical versus unethical. Perhaps if we were all immortal and would meet with the same people many times, such a criterion might fit well, but at least now we aren't (yet) immortal. Best wishes and long long life for all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26380