I think just about everything in the above comment is predicated on a grossly incorrect reading of the original post. So far as I can tell:
Raemon was using “getting rid of death” not to mean “magically ensuring that no one ever dies at all, even on account of the end / heat-death of the universe” but “eliminating, or very nearly eliminating, death through old age and disease”, and nothing s/he said requires the former meaning.
Raemon was not claiming to have any substantial ability to influence whether or not the human race abolishes death, or when, nor to play a big role in solving all those other problems. (And: discussing whether something would be a good or a bad thing doesn’t in the least imply any claim to be able to influence it.)
Raemon was not claiming to have a politically feasible way of solving any of those problems. In particular, s/he was not claiming that the world is a single rational polity run by philosopher-kings, s/he was not proposing to form a fanatical extremist movement, etc., etc., etc. (And: discussing whether something would be a good or a bad thing doesn’t in the least imply any claim that there’s an easy way to bring it about.)
Thank you. Both for understanding what I was talking about (more accurately, what I wasn’t), and for making the effort to use gender neutral wording. (As it happens I am male, but it’s something I care about which happens to be on my mind right now).
I totally understand why death is a big deal. I’m not saying we should wait to fix it. I understand emphasizing that because it’s not something that generally gets press. But there’s a lot of other issues out there that need fixing as well, and not everyone is the sort of person who has the skillset/interest in fixing the death issue directly. My target audience was internet bloggers, whom I thought were disproportionately talking about one issue. Not government officials.
Mostly, though, I honestly just wanted to know what the counterarguments to overpopulation were, and they have been explained to my satisfaction.
I think just about everything in the above comment is predicated on a grossly incorrect reading of the original post. So far as I can tell:
Raemon was using “getting rid of death” not to mean “magically ensuring that no one ever dies at all, even on account of the end / heat-death of the universe” but “eliminating, or very nearly eliminating, death through old age and disease”, and nothing s/he said requires the former meaning.
Raemon was not claiming to have any substantial ability to influence whether or not the human race abolishes death, or when, nor to play a big role in solving all those other problems. (And: discussing whether something would be a good or a bad thing doesn’t in the least imply any claim to be able to influence it.)
Raemon was not claiming to have a politically feasible way of solving any of those problems. In particular, s/he was not claiming that the world is a single rational polity run by philosopher-kings, s/he was not proposing to form a fanatical extremist movement, etc., etc., etc. (And: discussing whether something would be a good or a bad thing doesn’t in the least imply any claim that there’s an easy way to bring it about.)
Thank you. Both for understanding what I was talking about (more accurately, what I wasn’t), and for making the effort to use gender neutral wording. (As it happens I am male, but it’s something I care about which happens to be on my mind right now).
I totally understand why death is a big deal. I’m not saying we should wait to fix it. I understand emphasizing that because it’s not something that generally gets press. But there’s a lot of other issues out there that need fixing as well, and not everyone is the sort of person who has the skillset/interest in fixing the death issue directly. My target audience was internet bloggers, whom I thought were disproportionately talking about one issue. Not government officials.
Mostly, though, I honestly just wanted to know what the counterarguments to overpopulation were, and they have been explained to my satisfaction.