reply to post by spellbound
I think that we will have Armaggeddon. Unfortunately, we need it, because of the greed and selfishness in the world.
So you advocate killing the patient in order to cure the ailment? I suppose perhaps you could make the analogy of chemotherapy, which brings the
patient to death's door in order to kill the cancer. Yet this is a HORRIBLE therapy - and millions of dollars are being poured into research in
multiple different fields to advance the technology of prevention and the removal of cancer with minimal effects to the patient. Advancements such as
specialized dyes that target cancer cells - allowing surgeons to not only highlight the boundaries of tissue and tumor, but to follow the course of
where the cancer is spreading, so we can remove that as well - rather than waiting until it re-emerged before knowing if the surgery was successful.
Creating advanced surgical robotics which can bend in flex in almost any direction - spidering out from a single insertion tube, to give the surgeon
real-time mid-surgery re-positioning options to move around and work on new areas without requiring lengthy and expensive realignments... giving the
surgeon 3D views of the inside of the body, as well as a microscope view to scrape the cancer away from individual cell layers - without damaging
vital nerves.
That's the difference here. Chemotherapy is still used, but it's abhored - by doctor and patient... and we're working on fixing the problem so that
we can leave to the annals of medical history, when things were a little more barbaric. These researchers don't just throw their hands up and say,
well... that's just the way it has to be.
Greed and Conflict are integral components of life on this Earth, ultimately helping to promote diversity and ensure the survival of life. Natural
Selection is not a friendly or gentle process... and we are not removed from it. We express it, and are expressions of it. To tear these out of
humanity would be crippling to our species, and a radical departure from who we are - in all aspects.
This doesn't mean that greed or conflict should be promoted or endorsed. They will manifest well enough on their own, and rather than simply give up
on humanity - perhaps we should look towards finding ways to promote and endorse altruism amongst each other... because while natural selection (even
in this new environment called society) is currently necessary, they are still evil to us. Disease, predation, deformation, greed... conflict, etc. We
can use our altruistic nature with an understanding mind to effect the result of selection, without the horrible pressure of selection. Medicine, free
and open communication, charity, public education...
The struggle of humanity to escape the harshness of selection is as much a force for the development of our societies as that selection itself. It's
a continual cycle, as the environment (society) continually changes - calling for new adaptations... but life is getting better, despite the pitfalls.
We live freer and healthier than those in Paleolithic times... than those in the Hellenistic Era... than those in the Dark Ages or the Industrial
Revolution.
I'm just sorry you cannot see that. You cannot simply give up and pray to gods or aliens... or welcome death for the species. It's a struggle, and
it takes hard work and dedication... but it can be accomplished, and ultimately, I believe it will be accomplished.
[edit on 20-6-2009 by Lasheic]