[ExI] "meat"

[Eschatoon Magic]

Actually, even if I do not consider my body  as an important part of
what makes me me, I don't despise it at all. I have enjoyed it a lot
in the past and, within the limits you mention (" some of your organs
start to break down, or viruses make you sick..."), continue to enjoy
it.

So why do I refer to the body as "meat"?

Transhumanists have always had a wide range of attitudes toward the
body, from those who love it and wish to continue enjoying it with
some little improvements here and there, to those who loathe it and
wish to escape it. I guess the majority enjoy their bodies, but know
that someday they will not enjoy it so much, or not at all.

Until a few years ago, there was a peaceful co-existence between the
two extreme fringes, which I usually indicate as moderate and radical
transhumanists. But recently some of the moderates, in what I
interpret as a sell-out for personal career interests (for example in
academia one should be a bit fashionably radical but not too much),
use to attack the radicals, at times in insulting ways. I and others
don't believe in offering the other cheek, and fight back. I don't
always refer to the body as "meat", but I do and will continue to do
so when debating with this group.

You are certainly familiar in this pattern, found in most cultural and
political movements: when one internal group begins to attack another,
the other group fights back and soon there is a runaway split process.

My suggestion is, as usual, live-and-let-live -- one group should
respect and support the more moderate sensibilities of the other, and
one group should respect and support the more radical and visionary
sensibilities of the other.

G.

On Sun, May 24, 2009 at 8:31 AM, Eschatoon Magic <eschatoon at gmail.com> wrote:
> I will stop referring to your body as meat. But I will continue
> referring to mine as meat. In the sense that I do not consider it as
> an important part of what makes me me. And in the sense that, yes, I
> consider it as a cage from which to escape. As I have said often, I
> don't think the escape option will be actually available to me, in
> what is left of this lifetime. But I hope it will be available to
> future generations, perhaps even the generation of our kids, and
> intend to do my best to contribute.
>
> When the escape option will be available, everyone will have to make
> their own choice. If I am still here at that time, I will respect
> those who prefer not to escape, and I expect the same respect in
> return.
>
> On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 9:08 PM, Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Meat is dead, hacked-up flesh. My body isn't meat, it's me, and yours isn't
>> meat either. It's a living person.
>> Now the peanut gallery can start yipping about "political correctness."
>>
>> Damien Broderick
> --
> Eschatoon Magic
> http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Eschatoon
> aka Giulio Prisco
> http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Giulio_Prisco
>



-- 
Eschatoon Magic
http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Eschatoon
aka Giulio Prisco
http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Giulio_Prisco