[ExI] Israel and Transhumanism article in H+

John Grigg possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com
Thu May 20 22:48:11 UTC 2010


Stefano Vaj wrote:
I haven't read the article yet, but while Israel used to be, according
to an old poll, the country the most hostile to eugenics (the most
favourable was India, btw, and I suspect that the respective dominant
religions may have something to do with that), for other aspects
Israel has been for a long time on the forefront, keeping in mind its
size, of strategic techs, not to mention special schools for gifted
individuals, etc.
>>>

Yes, I could see how the term "eugenics" could be very ugly to Israel,
considering the Nazi legacy of torture and genocide.  And yet one of
the next smoking hot fields is going to be biotech, in it's various
manifestations.  I hope Israel does not miss the bus as Russia did in
the past with genetics.  Perhaps Singapore and South Korea will be
among the world leaders in the area of anti-aging research.

What I find ironic is that the Jews have in their own way been
practicing eugenics of a sort for the last several thousand years!
the Bene Gesserit would be proud! lol  They have been a people that
greatly encourage education and accomplishment, and now as a result
Jews tend to have higher I.Q's than average & they put them to good
use (a very synergistic combination of nature and nurture).

I realize the Ashkenazi make up just a small percentage of the world's
Jewish population, but they are still an excellent place to start
regarding this subject...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_intelligence

John


On 5/19/10, Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 19 May 2010 01:11, John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> An excellent H+ article about how Israel is becoming a center of
>> transhumanist technologies and thinking.  I admit to finding a great
>> deal of irony in this development.
>>
>> Next up, the state of Utah and the Mormon faith? hee
>>
>> http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/politics/israel%E2%80%99s-value-transhumanism
>
> I haven't read the article yet, but while Israel used to be, according
> to an old poll, the country the most hostile to eugenics (the most
> favourable was India, btw, and I suspect that the respective dominant
> religions may have something to do with that), for other aspects
> Israel has been for a long time on the forefront, keeping in mind its
> size, of strategic techs, not to mention special schools for gifted
> indivuals, etc.
>
> And, Mormons AFAIK are probably the christian confession with the most
> vibrant transhumanist community. There again, I believe that it may
> have to do with their more or less radical departure from a number of
> tenets of other monotheistic persuasions.
>
> --
> Stefano Vaj
>
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