Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 11:44:40 -0700
From: hugh bone <hughbone-AT-worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: a little pomo levity ...


J. B. Sclisizzi wrote:
 
 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
 I think we can afford more levity, and this piece
 was carefully and thoughtfully constructed.
 
 The following thoughts about Philosophy are not intended
 as levity.  

 Item 6 relates to pomo, but graduate students
 and new professors are now older than the advent of
 the "Post-Modern", the world they grew up in, a world which
 no longer exists, although its narratives are not without
 relevance to the future - where we expect to be.
 
 WHO WE ARE
 
1) Animals, raised as pets by humans, may mature without
 encountering another animal of their own species.  Their experience
 of "others" would be perceptions of human behavior.
 
 2) A child, raised by animals could, in theory, have a similar
 reversal of normal experience.  Its perception of "others" would
 be limited to animals.
 
 3) A child, raised by robots, without encountering other humans,
 or animals, would only "know" robots; their movements, their
 "speech".
 
 4) A child, raised by relgious parents, may be taught that it was
 created by a "supreme being" - that humans, as lesser beings, must
 live in accordance with God-given commandments, writings, and
 rituals.
 
 5) A child, who formally or informally, has absorbed the beliefs of
 Darwin and his followers, thinks of itself as the ultimate primate,
 a superior life-form, on the only Planet known to support Life.
 
 6) A child growing to adulthood in a normal, family environment,
 could, in theory, be be taught that it is a "wet robot", an
 automaton or zombie, not a  "self".
 
 7) Future children, will, perhaps, have "a right to know", and have
 access to documents which specify any changes which were
 incorporated into their genes by practitioners of genetic science.
 
 8) The question is "Who are we, and how shall we live our lives"?
 
 Regards,
 Hugh