[PLUG-TALK] Shiavo case...

[glen e. p. ropella]

=><=><= "rs" == Russell Senior <seniorr at aracnet.com> writes:

rs> After hearing Keith Lofstrom's encouragement to "do the docs", my
rs> personal reflection on the problem (not having any of these documents)
rs> is that, basically, I would want the one-hop people to all reach a
rs> consensus.  Furthermore, none of my one-hop people are kooks[1], and
rs> so I trust them to all reach a reasonable and appropriate decision.
rs> Given that, I have a hard time seeing any circumstances where my case
rs> _could_ become a circus such as we are seeing in Florida.

I agree.  I think we're seeing a combination of an extraordinary 
situation and the political exploitation of that situation.

glen> [...] In any case, jumping to "She's already dead!" or "God says
glen> it's the husband's right to kill her!" is stepping outside the
glen> realm of reasoned, respectful, consideration.... at least in a
glen> society that is governed by laws rather than messages from the
glen> Dog Star.

rs> Although, as usual, the so-called "news" media is doing a crappy job
rs> of communicating the facts of the case, I think the argument here is
rs> that it is hard to claim that after a multitude of legal proceedings
rs> that anyone is jumping to anything.

I wasn't referring to any of the people actually involved in the case.
I was talking about us arm-chair justices who talk about alpha waves,
"persistent vegetative states", claiming that she's already dead,
or moral/ethical reasons for doing one thing or another.

My point was that we, the human species, don't know squat about life
or death.  So, claiming that she does or doesn't feel anything or
that she is or is not alive, etc. is all just hubris.

rs> [1] relative to my world view.

-- 
glen e. p. ropella              =><=                           Hail Eris!
H: 503.630.4505                              http://www.ropella.net/~gepr
M: 971.219.3846                               http://www.tempusdictum.com