08-Disability and Health
<p class="MsoNormal"> "Health Canada and the FDA<span style="">
</span>argue that<span style=""> </span>aging is not a
disease but a natural, unstoppable, inevitable process ; I would argue the
middle ground,<span style=""> </span>that aging is a
progressive<span style=""> </span>disability worthy of more
than palliation".<span style=""> </span>"Oh dad you are one
sick puppy…everybody<span style=""> </span>before 1900<span style=""> </span>who ever<span style="">
</span>claimed there was a cure for aging has one thing in common, they are
dead.<span style=""> </span>Putting<span style=""> </span>humpty dumpty together won't cure aging"<span style=""> </span>Well kids, for over a decade I have been
mentored by members of The <b>World Transhumanist Association</b> ,<span style=""> </span>an international nonprofit membership
organization which advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human
capacities (<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/">http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/</a>
) .<span style=""> </span>They support the development of and
access to new technologies that enable everyone to enjoy <b>better minds,
better bodies</b> and <b>better lives</b>. In other words, they want people to
be <b>better than well.<span style=""> </span>From what I
have learned I think there is good reason to be optimistic about the
future.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.wfs.org/MArch-April08/WF2008_preliminary.pdf">http://www.wfs.org/MArch-April08/WF2008_preliminary.pdf</a></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Every technology designed to make life indistinguishable
from normal for the disabled can now<span style=""> </span>be
adapted to enhance the abilities of the able bodied.<span style=""> </span>For example scientists pushing themselves harder to be smarter
are now<span style=""> </span>major consumers of ritalan a
drug popularized for hyperactive kids.<span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Raymond Kurzweil (<span style="">
</span><a href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1">http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1</a><span style=""> </span>)views the body as a complex software program coded as DNA..<span style=""> </span>It's the millions of feedback loops from all
the subroutines that make us what we are as much as the source code.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2006/07/07/heinbaugh.blind.reader.affl">http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2006/07/07/heinbaugh.blind.reader.affl</a>,<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.knfbreader.com/">http://www.knfbreader.com/</a><span style=""> </span>document the dividend digital technology is
now able to provide to disabled persons.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Savants show what magic a mind can accomplish. The true
potential of a human mind is breaking new ground. (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html</a>).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Breaking<span style=""> </span>the
communications barrier for autistic brains will bring happiness and purpose to
imprisoned personalities.<span style=""> </span>USA
Lawmakers<span style=""> </span>may 07, 2008 introduced
legislation designed to speed the development of new, safer therapies for brain
and nervous system disorders and injuries, which affect an estimated 100
million Americans and costs an estimated $1.3 trillion annually to treat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=legislation-introduced-to">http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=legislation-introduced-to</a><span style=""> </span>According to <a href="http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/">http://www.Chronicdiseaseimpact.com</a>
forward planning to eliminate future disability can have a significant
payback.<span style=""> </span>The difference in 2050 USA GDP
for eliminating disability at all ages is projected to be 5.668 Trillion (17.6%
of 2050 GDP)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Disabled persons at this stage of technology might resemble
movie cyborgs because the mechanical/electronic devices are clunky; but they do
work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Raymond Kurzweil's "universal language translator"
software<span style=""> </span>and<span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">( <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news130152277.html">http://www.physorg.com/news130152277.html</a>
)<span style=""> </span>a baseball cap wired to allow EEG to
control household electronics devices<span style=""> </span>(<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/matsuoka">http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/matsuoka</a>)
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>,<span style=""> </span>for physically disabled individuals, for
home care for the elderly, medical monitoring, and exercise training are
disjoint technologies that are breaking new ground.<span style=""> </span>Oscar Pisorius (<a href="http://womensbioethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/bionic-athletes-stepping-out-of-debate.html">http://womensbioethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/bionic-athletes-stepping-out-of-debate.html</a>)<span style=""> </span>made able bodied athletes feel
disadvantaged,<span style=""> </span>like he did before his
new legs.<span style=""> </span>(<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20080504/">http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20080504/</a>
).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Biomarkers may soon predict disabling diseases like
alzheimers before even the sufferer is aware of it.<br><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20783/?nlid=1079&a=f" target="_blank">http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20783/?nlid=1079&a=f</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One may think of disability as a critical catastrophic fault
supported by long creeping degenerative processes.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.gsexperience.com/gseblog.html">http://www.gsexperience.com/gseblog.html</a><span style=""> </span>and <a href="http://www.gsexperience.com/archive/index.html">http://www.gsexperience.com/archive/index.html</a><span style=""> </span>describe a potential mechanism for systemic
diseases (spalting)<span style=""> </span>which may develop
in humans who survive well beyond what we consider old and pose monumental new
health challenges.<span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Feb 21, 1963 John F. Kennedy said "It is not enough for a
great nation to have added new years to life.<span style="">
</span>Our objective must also be to add new life to those years".<span style=""> </span>To put myself at risk of being partisan ,
we need to repeat the pledge to "put a man on the moon before the end of the
decade" in the form of a new pledge " to end physical and mental disability for
the average global citizen before 2025".<span style="">
</span>Governments around the world must put pro-life ahead of pro-death and
lead by consorting with technologists and futurists and <span style=""> </span>not by the permission of uninformed
pollsters.<span style=""> </span>The old adage "garbage in ,
garbage out" is no laughing matter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Harrison Ford at the end of Indiana Jones saga<span style=""> </span>says "A prize greater than a city of Gold is
knowledge"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we prevent disability we enhance the wisdom of<span style=""> </span>old age to become a true asset.<br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin<span style=""> </span><br>
</a>.<span style=""> </span></p>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">You may send your feedback attention "Pharmer Mo" at <a href="mailto:extropian.pharmer@gmail.com">extropian.pharmer@gmail.com</a></span><br>