the wisdom of longevity & cryonics
DESCRIPTION
Mark R. Waser Digital Wisdom Institute [email protected]. The Wisdom of longevity & Cryonics. W hat d oes “ w isdom ” M ean?. Wisdom is doing that which is most congruent with your long-term interests and happiness - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
WHAT DOES “WISDOM” MEAN?
WHAT DOES “WISDOM” MEAN? Wisdom is doing that which is most
congruent with your long-term interests and happiness
Intelligence measures the ability to fulfill goals; wisdom measures the ability to *choose* goals
Many very intelligent people smoke to excess; very few wise individuals *choose* to do so
Most importantly – WISDOM MEANS ETHICS
WISDOM MEANS “ETHICS”?!??!!
Enlightened Self-InterestEthics/Morality =
Wisdom is doing that which is most congruent with your long-term interests and happiness
Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted
-- François La Rochefoucauld, Duc DeSexual attraction keeps throwing self-interest off course
-- Mason Cooley
Long-term
ETHICS IS NOT *ALWAYS* IN MY SELF-INTEREST
The function of ethics (& morality in general)
Jonathan HaidtChapter 20. MoralityHandbook of Social Psychology
is“to suppress or regulate selfishness
and make cooperative social life
possible”
RECENT ARTICLES Immanuel Kant: Morality
Necessitates Immortality Against Deathism and For Life-
Extension Demonstration Wake Up, Deathists, You DO Want
to LIVE 10,000 Years!
THERE’S NOTHING I LIKE LESS
. . . THAN BAD
ARGUMENTS FOR A VIEW I HOLD DEAR
IS CHOOSING TO DIE IMMORAL?
1. Is choosing to die selfish? In particular, what right/autonomy
of others is being denied?
2. Does choosing to die prevent cooperation?
Does it cause or promote active justified conflict?
IS THERE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO DIE?
1. Is blocking an entity’s choice to die selfish?
In particular, what possible reason is there for violating their autonomy?
2. Does blocking an entity’s choice to die prevent cooperation?
Is it at all likely to cause them to fight you?
HOW TO MAKE MORTAL ENEMIES
The Three Laws:
1) A transhumanist must safeguard one’s own existence above all else.
2) A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible – so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First Law.
3) A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe – so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.
-- Jethro Knights’ sailing log
IS CRYONICS IMMORAL?
1. Is cryonics selfish? In particular, what right/autonomy of others
is being denied?2. Does cryonics prevent cooperation?
Does it cause or promote active justified conflict?
3. Does cryonics promote cooperation (or “make cooperative social life possible”)?
IS THERE A “RIGHT TO CRYONICS”?
1. Is blocking an entity’s choice of cryonics selfish?
In particular, what possible reason is there for violating their autonomy?
2. Does blocking an entity’s choice of cryonics prevent cooperation?
Is it at all likely to cause them to fight you?
IS CRYONICS A WISE SOCIETAL CHOICE?1. Is cryonics selfish?
In particular, what right/autonomy of others is being denied?
Is the expected/probable implementation of cryonics
“selfish and likely to prevent cooperative social living”?
SOCIETIES DETERMINE “RIGHTS” “FAIR” really means exactly the same thing as
“ETHICAL” from the individual point of view “JUSTICE” really means exactly the same thing
as “ETHICAL” from the societal point of view If a society (as whole) decides that something is
UNSUSTAINABLE (particularly when universalized) or expected to lead to greatly increased INJUSTICE, the ethical solution is to (as a whole) regulate or ban that thing for everyone.
Arguably, cryonics needs that determination and action as soon as possible.
