I don’t think it means much that the molecular systems involved are universal. The fact that wires are transferring electrons in two different computers doesn’t mean the computers are programmed the same way.
Deskchair
Karma: 23
To me, that sounds a lot like saying “We should be rational, but we should stop before it feels too unintuitive or against social norms”.
So it sounds a lot like how science actually works. I’m not sure what this article offers, honestly.
Is that a bad thing?
That hasn’t stopped us from doing incredible feats of artificial selection using phenotype alone. You can work faster and better the more you understand a system on the genetic level, but it’s hardly necessary.
In the natural world, the average animal with appreciable intelligence will experience more pain and suffering than joy and pleasure in its lifetime. As soon as we have the technology to live without it, we have a moral obligation to destroy all other life on the planet with a remotely developed brain.