[extropy-chat] Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004, Greg's Project

Fri Nov 19 06:12:06 UTC 2004

When people who just might have been able to catch the extreme lifespan 
wave or uploaded their consciousness die
in 2004 it is far more tragic than in 1974 when such was only a fanciful 
dream.

I too have lost people near to me who had a statistically better chance 
than even me to "make the cut".
My wife at age 45 and a week this march 21.  Only after the fact did I 
fully realize that there was a conscious
knowledge among those caring for her that " simply tweaking treatments 
would put her out of her misery and
bring her  peace through death".
I still do not forgive myself for not catching onto things ... it was no 
problem to install a 10,000$ baclofen pump
but no one would prescribe the anti-seizure  meds that might have 
stopped the devastating seizures that
reduced her to a barely concious state during her last 2 months.
I know death was never her wish. 

I now have a friend and business partner in his 70's who is in his last 
month due to late detected mesothelioma
or asbestos caused lung cancer.  He too fought to the end.  About 3 
weeks ago when I sent him a Kg of hemp bud
and a small packet of marijuana to ease his pain he said " That should 
probably do me" and that was the first time that
he accepted that he had lost the battle. 

Formal religeons are like opiates in that they dull the mind to the 
urgency of defeating death as we know it.
Aethiesm and agnosticism  does put the owness on the individual to seize 
the moment and strive to extend, improve and sustain
consciousness.  In some ways religeon has served some good purposes but 
we are now mature enough to survive
without this old crutch.  Science as the new religeon has now more hope 
to offer for eternal life than the
comforting words of some prophet or other.

By the way I have convinced my 17 year old son that he should take my 
help in a school science fair project .
After going over my draft he decided that the theme might be:
How can  technology allow  individuality to survive in a posthuman world.
I suggested that he do a 3 sided backboard with a small centerpiece.
I had suggested a progression from the history of technology between 
-100,000 BC until 1950 then 1950-2100 and then the
posthuman singularity as a basic theme.
Then to research the technological events which began the transhuman era 
in 1950.
What I suggested to him was that it might make the display more dramatic 
if he make the claim that we are already
part way into the transhuman era.
He would then research how these events might  progress till 2100 and 
similar to how  Raymond Kurzweil says "cause
the combined effect of the past human development to happen again before 
2100.
He changed the focus from a chronological progression to making the 
transhuman world the centerpiece with
the past human and transhuman the flanking sections.
Instead of simply researching the science he wants to ask the question......
How in a posthuman world where consciousness is uploaded and jacked 
into, where hive mind global consciousness
composed of some melding of human mind and AI mind can the individual 
human mind keep its personal
identity.
He is asking .....  if the singularity might destroy the spark of 
humanity that has been both our best friend and worst enemy
for the last 100,000 years is there a  transhuman pathway which will 
enhance  and preserve humanity instead of  assimilating and destroying it.

Morris Johnson

Samantha Atkins wrote:

> Eliezer,
>
> I am extremely sorry for your [/our] loss.   Death utterly sucks and  
> humanity would be much better off never  pretending otherwise.
> When I was 14 my cousin who was 17 died.  He was in a motorcycle 
> accident and lingered for some hours.   We were told to pray for his 
> healing.   We prayed.  He died.   "It must not have been God's will" 
> we were told.  Or "we lacked sufficient faith" to pray effectively.   
> I remember how twisted up inside I felt hearing these things, how 
> helpless and how very angry.    How could it be "God's will" to snuff 
> out this wonderful young life?   How was it up to us to twist 
> ourselves into pretzels somehow in order to save my cousin Virgil or 
> anyone else who need not have been put through such suffering to begin 
> with if a "just" and "good" God was in charge as we were always 
> told?   How could the people say these expected things and be all 
> somber and then immediately pretend nothing had happened a mere few 
> hours later?   How could they not scream and cry out as I screamed and 
> cried inside?   Were they all zombies?
>
> If more people stopped making pious or otherwise excuses for the 
> horror of death and disease then we would finally move to end this 
> suffering.   When I was 14 I didn't know it was even possible to do 
> so.  Many people do not know it still.    We must make sure they 
> know.   Many more who do know act as if it isn't so.
> We must never forget our dead and never ever resign ourselves, those 
> we care about or anyone to death.   We must truly embrace life not by 
> acceptance of death but by extending life endlessly and without 
> limitation. 
> Eliezer, I salute your deep and utter dedication to life.   You are a 
> living inspiration to us all.
>
> - samantha
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
>