<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Jun 30, 2006, at 8:04 AM, Natasha Vita-More wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> At 12:58 AM 6/30/2006, Brandon wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite" class="cite" cite=""> <FONT face="arial" size="2" color="#000080">> </FONT>Someone asked me recently what the impulse behind transhumanism was. I said survival. <BR><BR> <FONT face="arial" size="2" color="#000080">Transhumanists seek not just to survive, but to transcend and to become something more than merely human.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> Yes, although I am looking at the "impulse" that motivates the desires. Improving the human condition is what transhumanism is actively seeking to accomplish. Why if it is not driven by the impulse to survive?<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV>Since you have posited that survival is the underlying motivator, you need to answer a similar question. The "impulse" to thrive, to have life, yes, but to have it more abundantly is an extremely strong driver. It is what brought me to transhumanism. It was only much latter that the argument that we must significantly change or perish came into focus for me. Most people discount motivation from purported threats to survival until the evidence is overwhelming. Witness global warming. When people are motivated by survival fears they often do not do their best and certainly not their most compassionate thinking. Witness the "war on terror".</DIV><DIV> </DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"><DIV>- samantha</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>