http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080813192458.ud84hj9h&show_article=1
The URL above is a link to an article about an interesting science experiment that has implications in medicine, ethics and - I think - economics. Some scientists have devised a robot that operates using rat brain cells. They have called this robot “Gordon”. If this can be done with rat brain cells, it can (and someday will) be done with human brain cells. IN my mind this raises a number of issues. 1. What exactly is it that makes a human a person with rights? 2. How would you “pay” such a person? 3. How would an anarcho-capitalist society deal with these “people”? If you do not understand the title click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Was_a_Man
Gordon would not actually be a rat. Gordon would be a “cyborg” I guess…
but perhaps it will be that a computer using rat brain cells is no more a rat than my leather sofa is a cow.
With humans things always get tricky because people might view a limited number of human brain cells as somehow “alive”. If that was the case I would say the human brain cell controlled thing would have rights no different from the rest of us the moment it says “I quit” or calls in sick from work.
I just want to say that the “me” of the year 1983 is very happy that the “me” of 2008 is discussing the rights of cyborgs using a computer.
It certainly does not take very many to get elected to public office.
Perfect. We could have a political advertisment with a politician showing he is just like a normal person. He could be seen surfing the web on his rat while sitting with his family on the cow.
Just as long as the computer is not running ratpoison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratpoison