Quotes of David Pearce - somelinesforyou

“ [...] there is no need to pay homage to the product of selfish genes as though selfreplicating DNA from the old Darwinian era were some sort of secular equivalent to Providence. ”

- David Pearce

“ [...] true hedonic engineering, as distinct from mindless hedonism or reckless personal experimentation, can be profoundly good for our character. Characterbuilding technologies can benefit utilitarians and nonutilitarians alike. Potentially, we can use a convergence of biotech, nanorobotics and information technology to gain control over our emotions and become better (post)human beings, to cultivate the virtues, strength of character, decency, to become kinder, friendlier, more compassionate: to become the type of (post)human beings that we might aspire to be, but aren't, and biologically couldn't be, with the neural machinery of unenriched minds. Given our Darwinian biology, too many forms of admirable behaviour simply aren't rewarding enough for us to practise them consistently: our secondorder desires to live better lives as better people are often feeble echoes of our baser passions. ”

- David Pearce
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