Sunday, August 21, 2005

A challenge on human beginnings

"While some religious groups see an embryo as a human life, looked at in a cold, rational light they are no more than tiny balls of cells. They can, of course, become a human under the right circumstances, but so can eggs and sperm, and with the advent of cloning so too can skin cells. These cells cannot all merit human status" - New Scientist, Editorial, 20 August.

And a challenge on futures:

"...people look at only three or four variables before making a decision. Bots can study hundreds, and refer back to a wealth of historical information on trading trends." (Money Making Machines).

2 comments:

Tom said...

I find the good working definition of a human life is one that does not require the any single individual. A fetus no matter how much promise and potential it hold is not a human life until it does not require the mother as a host.

Of course then some conjoined twins wouldn't be considered human individuals.

Anonymous said...

Impressesed.