Preserving the Essence of Human Life

Preserving the Essence of Human Life

Martin A. Moe, Jr.

Preserving the Essence of Human Life

Martin A. Moe, Jr

Copyright © 2014, Martin A. Moe, Jr

Smashwords Edition 2014

Ebook edition 2014

ISBN 978-0-939960-21-0

Green Turtle Publications

All rights reserved.

Author contact Martin A. Moe, Jr. (keysmmoe@gmail.com)

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Random House, Inc. for permission to reprint the excerpt from Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, copyright © 1970.

To those who have gone before, so that we could occupy this time, and to those that will come after, would that our legacy be pleasing to them

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

THE PREMISE

CHAPTER 1: TIME

CHAPTER 2: LIFE

CHAPTER 3: HEREDITY

CHAPTER 4: HUMAN EVOLUTION

CHAPTER 5: THOUGHTS ON HUMANITY

CHAPTER 6: DEATH

CHAPTER 7: IMMORTALITY

CHAPTER 8: RELIGION

CHAPTER 9: THE FUTURE

SELECTED REFERENCES

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I: THE LIFE HISTORY AND PERSONAL PROFILE

APPENDIX II: THE FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL PERPETUITY

Preface

This small book does not contain new and amazing scientific information. It simply organizes much that is known and that that may become known into a program that provides for preservation of the very essence of the individual. It is not the intent to conform to, or to deny, any sectarian doctrine or nonsectarian beliefs. Some may find the concepts abhorrent, an affront to traditional and religious beliefs. Others will find rationality, compassion, and a natural extension of humanity.

It will be difficult, for those who seriously ponder the current and probable future state of mankind's capabilities, to regard preservation of the essence of a human life with indifference. The knowledge that each human being is genetically unique and individually valuable, that a man has walked on the surface of the moon, that a human child has been conceived in a glass vessel, that a complete and viable mammal has been created from the biological program in its DNA, and that unprecedented access to computers and information have expanded human capabilities beyond recent imagination prohibits the intelligent human mind from dismissing this concept as impossible in any present or future time.

I’ve been working with this little book for over thirty years. The print edition was published in 1981, Although I’ve had reports from many people who have read the book, that it was very meaningful to them, and that they would be interested in anything that might come of this concept, the book has not captured a wide readership. And that’s understandable because books without marketing and without famous authors seldom make an impact even if they do carry a worthwhile idea. And now the sheer volume of books produced through the open capability for publication that the ebook revolution leaves us awash in the literary efforts of millions of writers, all seeking an audience.

Most ideas, and books, good and bad, die in the graveyard of obsolescence and obscurity in our fast moving, modern societies. However, if an author thinks that a book carries an idea and/or a story that has merit, he or she does not allow it die. It is usually a quixotic effort but the author continues to seek an audience for the work in whatever avenues are available, and so I am expanding and republishing my little book as an ebook under the title Preserving the Essence of Human Life, which more aptly describes the concept. And now, as never before in human history, it is within our power to preserve for the future our genetic code, the physical essence of our being, and the history of our individual existence, the essence of who we were. And if we do so, the potential is beyond our imagination.

The print edition titled Project Phoenix: A concept for future existence, was published in 1981. This was in the early days of the development of the technologies that could make such a concept conceivable. The book did not receive wide distribution at that time, and may not do so at this time either. But the electronic publishing available today makes it possible to introduce such out of the mainstream concepts and expose them to many minds to die or flourish in the ocean of public opinion. So with expansion, corrections, editing and 30 more years of experience, I will once again toss it at the wall of the human mind and see if it sticks…

INTRODUCTION

We all die. This fact has driven the development of our religions and our cultures for many thousands of years. We now know that a human life is molded by the inherited genetic code that forms us, working in concert with the physical and social environment in which we develop. In the past, and also in the present, we were and still are, captive to the misunderstanding that the human species is above all other forms of life and that somehow we alone have a special, supernatural spirit. Actually humans are biological beings with exceptional self awareness and intellect, and nothing more, although many hold a different opinion. We are just beginning to recognize that however long or short, however ordinary or extraordinary, however rich or poor, and wherever we live in time, place, and culture–every individual human life has the potential to be meaningful and significant to the future of humanity in ways large and small. The life environment that happenstance selects for us greatly determines the nature of the individual formed from each genetic code. In other times and other places, this same genetic code could produce a very different individual with a potential that far exceeds what is expressed in this life.

However, despite the current technological capability to preserve the very essence of a human life, our genetic code and our experiential history, we discard our unique genetic code, the foundation of our existence, and the history of who we were and what we did on the trash pile of ephemeral cemeteries and cultural mores. After death our genetic code deteriorates and reenters the biological dance of the elements, and our individual history is lost in the shadows of time and the instability of our cultures

The history of humanity is one of migration forced by environmental change, population increase, and cultural conflict. This has been a driving force in human evolution, human expansion, and cultural development ever since the proto human families/groups/tribes sought better sources of food and shelter over the hills and beyond the river. The result is that every inhabitable continent on Earth hosted a human presence long before transoceanic travel by large sail driven ships was possible. And since that time, technology, exploitation of the natural resources of the Earth, and expansion of the human species has already exposed the absolute ragged edge of human existence on this little planet. However, there has been little change, if any, in the inherent genetic, biological, intellectual, and cultural traits that have stimulated the human growth and development that is close to surpassing the carrying capacity of the natural resources of our Earth. It is patently obvious, that If we can not control our populations and our rapacious exploitation of our natural resources, that the future of humanity will not be growth and development–it will be a fight to extinction between human cultures for control of what little resources might remain in the biosphere of our planet.

It is also obvious that if we do learn to control the human genetic based physical and behavioral traits that served to lift us from ignorance and bestiality to intelligence and world wide civilizations–that human behavior must also change to the point that humanity becomes self-domesticated. We will develop into a species that has learned to live and survive within the physical and biological limits of the Earth’s environment–and stability and sustainability will replace growth and development as the driving forces of human civilization. If we can do this, Earth will morph over time from a natural ecology driven by environmental change and natural selection to a controlled ecology driven by the nutritional and intellectual demands of a stable human population: in essence a Garden Earth. We will have lost the natural world of our birth, but gained survival. The current rate of human population growth and the rapid development of technology is changing the world at a faster pace than at any time in history. It does not appear that the journey from this point to a stable world culture will be peaceful, but there is hope even if the most violent and turbulent times in the history of humanity are yet to come.

The human genome is changing rapidly, there is genetic evidence that over the last five to ten thousand years the rate of human evolution has increased 100 fold. This rate of genetic change is driven by factors such as dietary changes, reproduction concentrated within relatively small cultural groups (assortative mating), resistance to various diseases, and acclimation to changing environments all serve to establish beneficial genetic mutations. The gene pool of relatively small reproductively isolated cultural groups, which includes people of similar intellectual and physical traits, rapidly accumulates random mutations in DNA and over time this accelerates changes in genetic characteristics that aid survival of that cultural group. And as the most successful of these traits are transferred to other populations, these mutations are incorporated in the wider gene pool of the human species.

However, the rate of biological evolution is imperceptible compared to the potential for manipulated change of the human genome now being developed by human cultural practice and direct genetic manipulation. For example, at the level of conception and embryonic development there is negative selection now available through birth control methodology and also through abortion of embryos unwanted because of sex, ethnicity, physical malformation, genetic disorders, and medical and social reasons. Positive selection is also available through artificial insemination to resolve infertility problems and also to select a sperm donor with desirable physical and intellectual characteristics. Also through medical advances, many individuals survive to reproduce despite physical and genetic problems that in the recent past would have eliminated them from contributing to the gene pool. And at the genetic level, direct manipulation of genes in many ways is allowing survival of individuals that would surely die before reproducing. It may well be possible in the not too distant future to directly manipulate the genes of an early embryo to correct problems and also to imbue desired mental and physical characteristics to the resulting human individual. Thus it may well be that when, and if, the human species develops a stable civilization that lives in concert with the resources of the Earth, that humanity of that day and age will not be well suited to exploration, migration, and settlement in survival challenged environments.

No doubt, however, that curiosity, innovation, and an imperative desire to build and grow will still be present in the bosom of humanity, and migration will still be a driving force in the imagination and character of humanity. But where to migrate when the Earth reaches carrying capacity (like now)? Well, that process has already begun. It will be many years yet, but the moon and the planet Mars are beckoning. The humans that colonize these worlds and perhaps other worlds in the far future will have to be intelligent, curious, innovative , aggressive, capable of taking extreme, but well considered risks, and physically adaptable to many different kinds of environments. These genetic and behavioral traits are more likely to be found in the individuals alive today than in the individuals alive in the future times of a stable Garden Earth. It may well be that the genetic codes of those of us alive today will be one of the most important resources to the far future of humanity in its successful migrations to other worlds.

Yes, this is the stuff of science fiction, ideas and imaginations that fill idle hours with speculations, stories, and scenarios of futures that can never be. It is, perhaps sort of like the visions of only a relatively few years ago of submarines, machine powered vehicles, flameless lights, tools