Feb 16, 2011 11:45AM flannelette wrote:

Molly 52 - my thoughts precisely -could come back as a chicken? no thanks. IMHO heaven and hell are right here. I think that probably once you're done, you're done, and get recycled. sounds so harsh, put like that, but there are ways (I haven't reached) of understanding, or at least accepting it. Others have. The sheer improbabliblity of having to come to consciousness as a human is, to me, staggering. But I think once was enough, thank you very much. I have a friend who says- the first thing I do when I die and get to "the other side" where I join my friends and family is ask - what the hell WAS that?

Feb 16, 2011 12:00PM 3monstmama wrote:

Generally I have found that philosophys which believe in rebirth/reincarnation seem to tie the next step to how you were as in this life.  So once you become a human, unless you are REALLY Awful you don't come back as an animal on a lower level.

Re that singularity thing---very interesting.  I think we heard a report on NPR about it the other week.  DH and I immediately thought of the Cylons [sp] in Battle Star galactica.

I do think the world my monsters will live in will be unrecognizable from my own because of the technology.  And I agree completely that the changes are exponential---I won an IPod back in 2001---it was the most high tech because you could load photographs on it! It was only a little bigger than a deck of playing cards  yet you could load thousands of songs on it.  But to charge it, you had to either use a computer or hook the line to a little transformer box. 

My co-worker got her daughter an mini itouch  for holiday gift.  Its the size of a stamp, holds thousands of songs, can show movies and doesn't need a transformer to charge.  And it cost maybe 1/3 what my Ipod cost 10 years ago yet has more computing power.

I hope the cyborgs will like me!

Feb 16, 2011 12:27PM molly52 wrote:

3monstamama - yes that seems to be my take from the hindu/buddhist philosophies.  I guess this is a presumption of superiority of humans.

The native philosphy considers all to be equal.  The trees, rocks, water, animals, people - all equal.  As far as I know, we have no way to really know.

The native philosphy does give cause to think. If that tree is equal to me, do I have the right to cut it down?  For use perhaps, but not abuse.  It put a different, but similar spin on conserving our environment.  

These are thoughts that go nowhere,  although I find them interesting to ponder.

Feb 16, 2011 01:08PM - edited Feb 16, 2011 01:50PM by molly52

Sorry, Native Canadians/Americans aka aboriginals. 

It would be natural for humans to put themselves at the top of the food chain.  Which makes the Native philosophy so interesting to me. 

Feb 16, 2011 01:33PM River_Rat wrote: