mellowtigger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mellowtigger) wrote2011-07-23 01:15 pm
mellowtigger) wrote2011-07-23 01:15 pm
Entry tags:
chimera ethics
I have written about chimeras before. I learned yesterday that the UK Academy of Medical Sciences has released a report of suggested ethics guidelines for researchers who create chimeras.
I do have mixed feelings about their decision on this point. As long as the religious minded are allowed to hold steadfastly to their humans-are-the-center-of-the-universe thinking, then we will never achieve the enlightenment that I think is necessary for the good future of our society and planet. I keep repeating that we need a trans-species declaration of rights. Chimeras with human-like brains and minds would hasten such a development.
One category of experiments should be off-limits for the time being, according to the report. This includes the creation of a non-human primate with enough human brain cells to make it capable of 'human-like' behavior. The report says that such animals, which might be able to develop human capacities such as reasoning or self-awareness, would have a moral status close to our own or to that of the great apes, which cannot be used for invasive research in most countries.
- http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110721/full/475438a.html
- http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110721/full/475438a.html
I do have mixed feelings about their decision on this point. As long as the religious minded are allowed to hold steadfastly to their humans-are-the-center-of-the-universe thinking, then we will never achieve the enlightenment that I think is necessary for the good future of our society and planet. I keep repeating that we need a trans-species declaration of rights. Chimeras with human-like brains and minds would hasten such a development.
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But it also got me thinking about what follows the Age of Aquarius, the Age of Capricorn, and I'm thinking that may be the Age of the Chimeras, where humanity starts to explore new forms with which to inhabit other planets with, using the knowledge we gained during the Age of Aquarius.
Each Age is about 2150 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius
Then I wondered about the Age of Sagittarius, and I'm thinking that will be the Age where we strike out into the universe and start building new civilizations on new worlds in our new forms.
The Age of Scorpio may end up being the Age of intergalactic strife, bringing down or cutting off those new worlds from each other.
The Age of Libra brings everything back into balance and resets the wheel.
The Age of Virgo brings about a rebirthing process to start the wheel rolling again.
The Age of Leo I haven't worked out what the focus is there, primal conquest?
The Age of Cancer, haven't worked this one out either.
The Age of Gemini? Hmmm
The Age of Taurus was apparently an age of human sacrifice and debauchery.
The Age of Aries was the time of Moses
And back to Age of Pieces
I don't believe in astrology, but I find this line of thinking interesting to fantasize about. :o)
And you should know me by now when it comes to "Rights", any being who can demonstrate a capacity to respect the rights of another being, has the same rights they are respecting. If Extraterrestrials visit us and respect our rights, then we should extend the same to them. If someone creates and A.I. that respects our rights, then it has rights. If someone upgrades an animal to a sentient level that they can respect our rights, then they have rights. And if someone creates an artificial body to extend their life, then they too retain their rights.
Rights are a social contract of mutual respect for mutual survival, beings who either refuse to or are incapable of holding up their end of the contract, are not protected by the contract. This includes mass-murderers and any critter who would prefer to eat you instead of co-exist with you.
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I find that (for me, at least) much of the appeal of paganism as a religion is that its observations may hold true even if you totally discount the deities as external forces (which I do). Natural systems and cycles, once observed, are found repeated in many other circumstances. It's like fractal art where patterns in one scale are found at larger scales as well.
My favorite sci-fi series, The Uplift Saga, is about the concept of galactic societies finding and then deliberately modifying young species for improved sentience. Such "benefits" come with a multi-million year contract of slavery (sorry, indentured servitude), then the new species can go on to uplift (enslave) yet more species for millions of years.
I finally started posting regularly on this blog 4 years ago with a note about cuttlefish. I happen to think that cuttlefish (and possibly octopi and squid) are as smart as chimpanzees and african grey parrots. I was greatly disturbed to see the following video on YouTube which, by my thinking, amounts to the torture and humiliation of a sentient mind. It's quite nauseating when viewed with that interpretation, so fair warning...
"Dancing squid bowl dish in Hakodate"
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxQmOR_QLfQ
Yes, we badly need a trans-species bill of rights.
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The baboon is obviously intending to dominate the dog. It does beg the question of whether there can be animal-on-animal cruelty that's more than mere instinctive reaction. It certainly appears "mostly intentional" in the video clip.
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