[ExI] h+ in smithsonian

[Eugen Leitl]

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 12:27:11PM +0100, Stefano Vaj wrote:

> At a point in time, a threat is discovered that is going to sterilise the
> earth for good, and if my recollection is good, at least some of those who
> were not part of an uploaded polis are forced to upload - something which
> may well correspond to murder in their own view - out of some "moral
> obligation" to do so.

The same applies if Earth is to become uninhabitable as the result
of collective action of the postbiota, most of them outside of the
gravity well. A dilemma arises among these who want to give a last
opportunity for lift to these left behind: what is coercion? Is
the informed consent really that? 

I personally would decide on a case to case basis, and unvoluntarily
upload these who do not appear to be really making an informed consent --
giving an opportunity to opt out again (self-terminate) after some
acclimatization period.
 
> Now, this squarely falls in the *humanist* perspective, which has been
> dominant in the West for some 1,500 years now, that implies the existence
> of eternal, but above all universal and "objective", values that are the
> reflection of the mind of God or of some thinly revarnished secular avatars
> thereof, such as "natural law".