"If your Clone Kills You, Is It Suicide?
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"If your Clone Kills You, Is It Suicide?
Vykin | Sunday, October 22, 2000 - 01:19 pm  Hi, son came home with a new magazine last nite, called "Stuff", as I "screened it", I looked in the lower left hand corner of the cover page, where the UPC is and noticed a tiny one line sentence: If Your Clone kills you, is it suicide? First I laughed, then I thought about it, Interesting question. What do you think of Cloning, Do you think this is the direction we should be heading? Should we stop at Dolly, or see what to do with humans. Anyone ever remember the movie Boys From Brazil? |
Moondance | Sunday, October 22, 2000 - 01:25 pm  It's one of those things... "don't fool with Mother Nature"... I will have to think more about this |
Vykin | Sunday, October 22, 2000 - 10:47 pm  I think the scientific world is progressing a little too quickly in their research on cloning, yet I can see some benefits. If we could be guaranteed that cloning cud be used to replace internal organs other than the brain (Unless it was a patient with brain damage), I would probably support it. However, there is something bizarre about the idea of cloning human beings. To alter the DNA - and it would alter in some way - is a frightening thought. Unfortunately, I think that by the end of this century, cloning will be a common day practice. How will that change the current "original" thoughts of man? Would the clone have original thoughts? I remember watching 2001 - A Space Odyssey and Hal the "computer" controlling real humans. At that time I recall people thinking never in a million years. Yet here we all sit with computers an integril part of our lives! There are mechanical robots run by computer now, as we type online. And it isn't even 2001 yet! It seems once science has a breakthrough, the run off in terms of further experiments escalates. I think it is safe to assume, that somewhere, in some lab, in some country, someone is attempting to clone a human being for destructive purposes. The one liner "If Your Clone Kills you is that suicide?" is actually interesting in itself. Would it be suicide after all you are killing "yourself". How would the religions of the world view it? Would that change the ideals of religions that do not accept suicide as a cause of death? If you are a clone and you kill "yourself", what types of emotion would you have? I realize I am posting more questions than answers. Perhaps it is that the answers aren't there yet, and, if they aren't there yet, what exactly is the question we should be asking? anyways these are my thoughts, I hope someone else can add to this |
Roger_Ramjet | Tuesday, October 24, 2000 - 12:44 am  Is my clone killing me committing suicide? Well, I have to ask myself, "am I still alive?" If I am not, then I have committed suicide. Have we gone too far with cloning and science in general? I will say no to that one, and offer the following to explain why I say no. All along the course of scientific advancement, that question has come up. Each time, without regard to the prevailing answer, we still have forged on. Take a look at where we are at for it! That said, note that "where we are at" isn't a perfect place by any means. Humans, as I've stated before, have a way of screwing themselves so badly!!! Yet, as with any animal that has certain things it can do in order to stay alive, we have powers of reasoning, logic, increasing intelligence, and wisdom. By far the most powerful of these is wisdom, for without wisdom, we have no means to use the others!! We can't live in very big temperature ranges without the above that allowed us to figure out and create clothing and shelter. We can't burrow much with just our hands, or catch much pray-or protect ourselves from other predators. With just our physical abilities, we wouldn't make it very long!! So, the things above become our means to survive the world-to climb the food chain as well. So, for us to become all that is within human potential, we cannot hold back just for the sake of holding back. HOWEVER, for us not to destroy ourselves with our own "tools", we must have AND use wisdom. We must know what to do with what we come up with, rather than stifle coming up with something…for just about anything we can create can be used for bad. Humans seem to be really good at that….figuring out the very worst we can do to each other with anything we come up with. We also have it within ourselves to figure out the very best we can do to each other with anything we come up with. As with any other species, we should be allowed to survive or perish based on what we do to ourselves. Now, the unfortunate thing is that we seem to be the only species that can so easily take out other species in the process! Well, with power comes responsibility!! We also need to realize this and deal appropriately with it!! Should we wipe ourselves out, and take a few species with us, the earth and most of its creatures will survive…quite well thank you. The damage we would do to wipe ourselves out would be fixed in a day, a week, a year or a thousand years. In time though, we too would be a mere relic. (I am not in favor of us wiping out species---I am in favor of us helping to protect them!) The disparity is that 1) technology and science can be taught, and 2) wisdom cannot be taught!! Unfortunately, to make things worse, there is little money in wisdom. Also, there is little power. The issue of power is changing everyday. It used to be, someone with wisdom could have power and get respect from many. Today, look at what secures money and power….the very things that can become our own worst tools of destruction!! So, I submit that it is up to us to become more affective at monitoring ourselves with what we do with the things we create, not pull back on creating things. Of course like many things, this is just one opinion….and one road. As in so many cases, there are a number of rods one can take to end up in the same place. I offer this as one of those roads. It will take a far wiser person than I to determine if it is a worthy enough road to get us to where we want to get….get without the kind of damage we've done to ourselves and other life in the past. |
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