Progress is worthwhile because ordinary human life still includes things like cancer.
One plausible part of what is at stake is simply remaining us.
This seems contradictory. A future where cancer has been obviated as a normal concern of would lead to very profound consequences. So much so that those future societies will not be anywhere close to “us”.
Lots of people never face cancer and they seem pretty human. Why would it be different if nobody ever faced cancer? Why wasn’t it different when people stopped facing starvation, or rickets?
Everyone has cancer 24⁄7, at least a few cancerous cells exist in even the healthiest people at any given time. It just doesn’t become a noticeable problem for some portion of the population before they pass away.
To actually do away with all cancerous cells, in the literal sense, would definitely imply they are not ‘us’, at least not any more than some shapeshifting alien taking human form can be considered so.
This seems contradictory. A future where cancer has been obviated as a normal concern of would lead to very profound consequences. So much so that those future societies will not be anywhere close to “us”.
Lots of people never face cancer and they seem pretty human. Why would it be different if nobody ever faced cancer? Why wasn’t it different when people stopped facing starvation, or rickets?
Everyone has cancer 24⁄7, at least a few cancerous cells exist in even the healthiest people at any given time. It just doesn’t become a noticeable problem for some portion of the population before they pass away.
To actually do away with all cancerous cells, in the literal sense, would definitely imply they are not ‘us’, at least not any more than some shapeshifting alien taking human form can be considered so.