When does 'Life' begin?, Morals, etc.,.
There was a recent discussion on talk.origins on "When does Life begin?". The discussion centers around the 'legal' and 'moral' implications of 'destroying' three Frozen Embryos.
Here is what I posted and I thought I would post it (and a little bit more) on LJ as well to collect your views on it:
Why look at it as 'taking life away'? Why not look at it from the point of view of 'causing pain'?
Looking at this issue rationally, why is killing a plant / bacteria 'totally fine' with people while killing a 'conscious animal' is not? I think this view point of "must not kill animals but can kill plants" is rational. and the Central Nervous System is the difference here.
Pain and Reward is a function of the CNS. It is a measure 'developed' by evolution to 'keep away' / 'seek more' of something bad / good (ex: wounds are bad for survival and 'health', so its good to stay away from getting wounded. If wounds produce a 'painful' sensation the living thing will tend to keep away from it and improve its chances of survival. Spreading the genes is a good thing and one will do it well if one is rewarded for it).
Now, forget the survivability, etc.,. Pain is a bad 'experience' for the 'psyche' (for those that have a 'psyche'). As long as the living thing doesn't suffer in the agony of pain, what is wrong in 'terminating' it? (I'm totally okay with Euthanasia, in its spirit. Its a different thing people will tend to 'take advantage' if such a thing becomes 'legal').
Then, one might raise the question "What *right* does one have to take away all the future 'rewards' that the living thing is bound to experience?".
Thus... There are two questions that need addressing here:
1. "When does an embryo start sensing 'pain'?"
2. "When does it become 'conscious' and start 'desiring' consciously for 'rewards'?"
I suppose the answers to the above two questions would show the path to whether its okay to terminate it at any given stage.
... and how many of you are for legalising Euthanasia? I for one, would definitely want to take the Euthanasia path for my death. Take it from me, I'm dying healthy and happy on my 50th birthday (or earlier depending purely only on my physical health). I hope, by then, there are either ways to live healthily _forever_ OR atleast ways to die painlessly. Dying legally, would be a plus (like, transfer all your assets to the "Euthanasia and National Development Dept.," and they kill you painlessly). (No, I'm not joking).
Whoa, I still have 25 years to go!
Here is what I posted and I thought I would post it (and a little bit more) on LJ as well to collect your views on it:
Why look at it as 'taking life away'? Why not look at it from the point of view of 'causing pain'?
Looking at this issue rationally, why is killing a plant / bacteria 'totally fine' with people while killing a 'conscious animal' is not? I think this view point of "must not kill animals but can kill plants" is rational. and the Central Nervous System is the difference here.
Pain and Reward is a function of the CNS. It is a measure 'developed' by evolution to 'keep away' / 'seek more' of something bad / good (ex: wounds are bad for survival and 'health', so its good to stay away from getting wounded. If wounds produce a 'painful' sensation the living thing will tend to keep away from it and improve its chances of survival. Spreading the genes is a good thing and one will do it well if one is rewarded for it).
Now, forget the survivability, etc.,. Pain is a bad 'experience' for the 'psyche' (for those that have a 'psyche'). As long as the living thing doesn't suffer in the agony of pain, what is wrong in 'terminating' it? (I'm totally okay with Euthanasia, in its spirit. Its a different thing people will tend to 'take advantage' if such a thing becomes 'legal').
Then, one might raise the question "What *right* does one have to take away all the future 'rewards' that the living thing is bound to experience?".
Thus... There are two questions that need addressing here:
1. "When does an embryo start sensing 'pain'?"
2. "When does it become 'conscious' and start 'desiring' consciously for 'rewards'?"
I suppose the answers to the above two questions would show the path to whether its okay to terminate it at any given stage.
... and how many of you are for legalising Euthanasia? I for one, would definitely want to take the Euthanasia path for my death. Take it from me, I'm dying healthy and happy on my 50th birthday (or earlier depending purely only on my physical health). I hope, by then, there are either ways to live healthily _forever_ OR atleast ways to die painlessly. Dying legally, would be a plus (like, transfer all your assets to the "Euthanasia and National Development Dept.," and they kill you painlessly). (No, I'm not joking).
Whoa, I still have 25 years to go!