‘On the IEET and Sentient Development blogs there is an interesting article by Athena Andreadis on “If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution!”. Athena says: “Both [transhumanism and cyberpunk] are deeply anhedonic, hostile to physicality and the pleasures of the body, from enjoying wine to playing in an orchestra. I wondered why it had taken me so long to figure this out. After all, many transhumanists use the repulsive (and misleading) term “meat cage” to describe the human body, which they deem a stumbling block, an obstacle in the way of the mind… However, we demean the body at our peril. It’s not the passive container of our mind; it is its major shaper and inseparable partner.’

Athena is making the point I try to make above much more eloquently.

Needless to say, that Giulio’s view (see link above) does not convince me a bit. And it’s clear to me that ‘debate’ on this issue of the primal and essential value of the (sensibilities and capabilities of) what Giulo calls ‘biology’, but I would rather call ‘nature’ (the real world as it is emerging by itself and in all its forms, with the beauty not only _in the emerging_ but also _in the emerged_ as is), especially our body – made as disease free as possible! -, is very, very hard. It may be that the core of the debate is a ‘being’, a ‘phenomenon’ which is _evident_ to you, or not…

Of course I don’t want to suggest that ‘computer-mediated virtual worlds’ always and ultimately boil down to ‘disembodiment’ or processes which are detrimental to our natural sensibilities and capabilities. My concern and key interest is how to _not_ let it come down to that.

My concern is that computer-mediated virtual worlds are contributing heavily to the loss of refined sensibility, the full use of our senses, of our body. The ‘Indian’ in us – smelling, moving graciously, experiencing nature with all his senses – killed completely and irrevocably. I don’t mean this in a sentimental, romantic way. Your short list of what we do in the real world, is about manipulating and changing it only, I miss in your summing up our ability to appreciate, sense and enjoy natural beauty _as is_.

The essential question in my view is: how to rediscover our natural sensibilities and joys – and thereby the wonder and beauty of the natural, ‘given’ world, which comes to light _by itself_ in all its complexity – hand in hand with the virtual technoworlds that may immerse us in an unprecedented fashion. The great danger is, that all our sense-perceptions will be _manufactured_, our interests and joys _programmed_ and _marketed_.

I see a link here with your excellent remarks in your post ‘Designer Babies’ and would appreciate very much to read (more of) your thoughts on this.

[I apologize for my Englisch, I'm not a native speaker].