X-Message-Number: 21006 Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 00:13:51 -0800 From: James Swayze <> Subject: Regarding the pursuit of perfection Regarding the new discussion about the pursuit of perfection I agree that it is something to attempt to attain but not ever truly be possible to obtain. There will always, I hope, be a higher bar to traverse. This is one reason I disliked the notion of the Christian heaven, how boring would that be? We need challenges always and forever. However, how we got into this discussion stemming from my comments on nanotechnology curing all disease is based upon a misunderstanding. I must apologize for using misleading language. I did not mean perfection as per the human entity but rather I should have used 'made ideally healthy' in place of 'perfecting cells', because I meant merely that disease won't be able to exist where cells are constantly kept in a state of absolute health. Though we might 'blueprint' a given human body as per my suggestion cell by cell it would still only be a human body. This is something possibly capable of doing someday once we have the genome totally understood as well as the proteome as it is referred. This is as opposed to the partial understanding we now have because as I understand it they skipped around a bit through the genome not trying to sequence each and every gene as yet. So, for instance, if I were to be perfected as I said in my earlier post at the cellular level, but this time I will instead say that each cell be made ideally healthy, I would still be me with all my human traits and faults. Perhaps if I had hidden phobias or brain chemical imbalances, in future able to be eliminated by means of knowing the ideal state necessary for absolute health, my personality might change a bit but I would still likely be just as stubborn, opinionated, sometimes arrogant, often a rogue where women are concerned, in effect just as humanly frail as I was before. However, I could then begin the long process toward enlightenment humanity has always dreamed of minus the hindrances of pain, disease and crippling injury as those things can tend to bring the worst but sometimes the best out in human beings... perhaps a little of both. Here's to aiming for perfection but not necessarily ever reaching it. James -- Cryonics Institute of Michigan Member! The Immortalist Society Member! The Society for Venturism Member! MY WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/~davidpascal/swayze/ While there follow the links to photos of me and some of my artwork and a radio interview on Dr. J's ChangeSurfer Radio program with me and the father of cryonics Prof. Robert Ettinger, author of "The Prospect of Immortality". A RELIGION I actually recommend: http://www.venturist.org A FAVORITE quote: Last lines of the first Star Trek the Next Generation movie. Capt. Picard: "What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived, after all Number One, we're only mortal." Will Ryker: "Speak for yourself captain, I intend to live forever!" Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21006