morolf: Do any of you have an opinion about radical life extension? I think that's really fascinating, I really hope there's some breakthrough in the next few decades...if it was possible, living to 200 or 500 would be great. Anyway, I read an interview with Germany's chief Protestant in German magazine SPIEGEL today...and he basically stated he wants research for that banned because it's against God's design or some similar nonsense. I really hate those god-mongers trying to hold up research and progress.
I think that it would appeal to most people (The thing I will miss most about dying is not seeing how the future develops). However, I have also been saying for some time that if a cure for cancer was found, it would endanger the future of humanity as the current aging population (of which I am one) is proving to be a burden on most countries already. Not that I am currently a burden, being in reasonable health. However, the day someone has to come and get me out of bed in the morning is the day I reach for a large plastic bag.
With regard to progress, I am fascinated by it. (Although not much good at it - I still use XP and my mobile is a steam driven Nokia). If you draw a graph, with the horizontal axis for time (say 1,000 years), and the vertical for progress (gunpowder, scientific thinking, automobile, industrial revolution, flight, jet power, miniturisation, computers, space flight, then the line is a radius which is approaching the vertical - at which point we will know everything at once. Of course if you interpret this a little differently, the sum of all human knowledge is already available to all through the interweb thingy.
I may be visiting this thread a lot - I have lots to discuss with people from different countries / cultures.