   Too many people
  how many squierls are their any the world? how many deer? how many foxes?how many deer should thier be per human? how many natural roaming buffolo should thier be per humman?how many grasses should thier be per humman?how many hummans are thier? how many should be here?the world is far to over populated. we have engineered a way for humans to create as much life as they want. our society holds nothing more sacred then life, yet it is life that will be our downfall. thier is to much life for the amount of food and comfort that the earth can support.do we have enough time to wait untill all countries are level 4 (like sweeden) and have negative birth rates?is it worth saving africa? should we stop sending them vaccines and food and let them die?who's life is more important? a north americans or someone half way arround the world?who is worth saving?we are smart enough to controll our world but are we smart enough to know when to stop? when is enough enough? how many humans should be allowed to live at any one point in time?if we are to continue our growth rate, who gets the last of the oil? who gets the technology? we can't all have it.when imortality is achieved, who gets it? how many people are allowed to live for ever? how many people are allowed to live for 300 years? how many people get a new body?the world will correct it's population, nature always restores it's self.  will it take a disaster to do this? or are we smart enough, evolved enough to stop reproducing?[Edited by - superpig on July 12, 2004 5:03:47 PM]
  Why do you assume we'll only have Earth and it's confines when / if we ever achieve "immortality"?It seems to me that the ability to travel fast enough (or through worm holes or whatever) is much more likely to occur before we're living for hundreds of years.   ;  actuly were qutie close to imortality, thier reseaching brain transplantation over here at u of t, and the baby boomers are'nt going to go down without a fight. id' imagine we'd have virtul imortality within 30 years atleast untill your brain dies.and even if we do colonize the galaxy, thier is still finite resources. who gets them?   ;  I dont think brain failure is the leading cause of death.  I have heard that after 50 divisions, cells begin to die.  That will need to be solved first.  Plus the many other variable we dont know about.  We will also probably need a less toxic environment.  I doubt you will be immortal this lifetime. Face it, you will die.   ;Quote:Original post by Cibressusactuly were qutie close to imortality, thier reseaching brain transplantation over here at u of t, and the baby boomers are'nt going to go down without a fight. id' imagine we'd have virtul imortality within 30 years atleast untill your brain dies.But I don't think immortality alone can be achieved by transplanting your brain with some sort of chip. Our whole body decays over time, not just the brain. Your heart doesn't pump as well when you are older. The older you are, the harder it is to keep it fit and healthy.Oh, to answer your OQ, animals have predators to control over population. We are the ultimate predator, yet we are our own predators. If we overpopulate, bad things will start to happen. Wars, famine, etc. That's how we predate our own kind, and it happens naturally.Who's life is more important? Everyone. You can help your fellow north americans, or somebody on the other side of this planet, that doesn't really matter; but who's worth saving does. According to my textbook, there are three kinds of people who needs help:(1) people who need just a little help(2) people who need moderate amount of help(3) people who can't be helped no matter how much help you have done. they would keep coming back.(1) and (2) are the ones that needs attention. (3), let them die.   ;Quote:when imortality is achieved, who gets it? how many people are allowed to live for ever?The moral answer: Anyone who /doesn't/ intend to have a kid. The pragmatic answer: Anyone who can afford it.   ;  i was refering to transplanting your brain to a diffrent body.and stim cells could regenerate your brain.   ;  That's kind of his point, you transfer the brain to a new body, presumably a clone of yourself. Lois McMaster Bujold wrote some excellent books with this as a technology; I heartily recommend you read "Mirror Dance." Incidentally, comrade Cibressus, would you please use proper capitalisation and spelling? Your posts are badly written to the point that they are difficult to read.   ;  There's a lot of evidence to suggest that the only reason why we 'age' is because of our brains -- and therefore if we can "stop" our brains from aging (read: stem cells), we can stop our bodies, too.However, I really, really doubt we'll achieve anything like this before we're at LEAST colonizing mars, if not planets further out than that.   ;Quote:Original post by alniteQuote:Original post by Cibressusactuly were qutie close to imortality, thier reseaching brain transplantation over here at u of t, and the baby boomers are'nt going to go down without a fight. id' imagine we'd have virtul imortality within 30 years atleast untill your brain dies.But I don't think immortality alone can be achieved by transplanting your brain with some sort of chip. Our whole body decays over time, not just the brain. Your heart doesn't pump as well when you are older. The older you are, the harder it is to keep it fit and healthy.It is also important to note that our mentality is not the sole factor governing of who we are.  It is not our thoughts alone that define us, but rather the combination of our ideas and our actions which results in the personality that we express.A simple act such as changing a minor physical feature (i.e. mole, scare, nosejob) can radically alter our own perception of ourselves, and eventually changes the personality of a person.  Do you really think that if your brain was moved to a new host environment that you would retain the same personality and characteristics?  The physical limitations and advantages (assuming any exist) of the new host would have a serious impact on the personality.  Not only that, but to have a viable donor for a brain transplant you require a host body which has sustained (essentially) non traumatic brain damage.  This is usually the result of toxic shock (including such things as lack of oxygen), or genetic defect.  Factor in considerations such as further damage due to tissue rejection and it becomes an incredibly serious concern.Would you really want to spend the rest of your un-naturally prolonged life as a mentally handicapped individual due to chemical rejection of your brain?