[extropy-chat] Essay on Physical Immortality

[Harvey Newstrom]

Mike Lorrey wrote,
> Contradiction: killing humans who would otherwise prevent 
> others from gaining access to radical life extension 
> technology, to such a degree as to cause death. Is it wrong 
> to kill such humans or not?

I think this is obviously wrong.  This is a classic example of choosing the
lesser of two evils.  Both choices are evil.  Choosing the lesser evil is
still evil.  I think it confuses the issue to compare them and say that the
lesser evil is "good" compared to the worse evil.  I think it makes more
sense to clearly state that they are both evil.  

The question of whether we should choose the lesser of two evils depends on
there not being any other possibilities.  But how do you prove a negative?
I think it can never be proven that there is not a better alternative and
that we have to choose one of these evils.  We can contrive more complicated
scenarios with specific time-limits and artificial constraints, but these
seem further and further removed from reality the more we simplify them.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, CISA, CISM, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
Certified IS Security Pro, Certified IS Auditor, Certified InfoSec Manager,
NSA Certified Assessor, IBM Certified Consultant, SANS Certified GIAC
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