Not true. We've hardly even scratched the surface on eradicating disease,
for instance. As soon as we thought TB was defeated, it cropped up again.
(The tuberculosis bacillus is another DNA support system, btw.) Read The
Hot Zone for a delightful peek into our future. Ebola sounds like a *lot*
of fun.
> our worlds' population has outgrown what the planet can
> sustain without artificial means. We have developed
>these artificial means to feed our population thusfar-- but at what cost?
What's the difference between natural and artifical in this case? They
both feed us.
>The same intelligence that has allowed us to alter the food chain (food
>web?) so drastically has
>also given us the ability to see further down the paths we choose-- we can
>see that the Earth's
>population needs to decrease if we are to start a symbiotic relationship
>and not perpetuate the
>current, parasitic one.
What parasitic relationship? We have a symbiotic relationship with wheat,
for instance. What you're really saying, I think, is that the species
_you personally value_ are not held in the same esteem by everyone else.
Just because I like whales doesn't mean that there is universal agreement
that whaling should be outlawed. I have to pursuade people that they
should also value whales as highly as I do. That or I can force them to
stop at the point of a gun.
>Because of this foresight, it could be argued that not having children
>for the good of the planet _is_ in fact working toward the best interests'
>of the human DNA. If we breed ourselves into extinction, how does that
>benefit anyone?
>
>Executive summary: Save the planet- kill yourself!
You're asking us to start a self-imposed culling program on ourselves. It
won't happen. You'll always get one group who will hold back out of their
own self-interest, bemusedly watching the rest of us commit harakiri.
When they're in a position to take over, they will. There is a built-in
tension between the various DNA-suppport systems out there, both outside
_and_ inside the species, and they're all competing for the same finite
set of resources. Paradoxically, it is this tension which spurs on the
pace of evolution.
Executive summary: We are not all in this together. I am in this alone,
allied with a small group of people who share my broad aims, and I
compete against the rest of the world.
John
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John Steele Foresight Technology, Inc.
john_steele@fsti.com http://www.fsti.com/
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