Discussões bastante futuristas

Discussões assaz futuristas nesta matéria.

Trechos:

In a session on "BioPolitics and the Concept of Human Nature," Alin Fumurescu, a political scientist from the University of Missouri, discussed "The Neuroendocrinology of the Pleasure-Pain Calculus." According to Fumurescu, the nerve pathways for transmitting sensations of pain and pleasure are largely identical, like two sides of the same coin. He believes that this biological find in some way undermines utilitarianism, in which the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure are seen as the goal of moral action. Instead, Fumurescu argues, the neurobiology confirms an insight about pain and pleasure made by Plato in Gorgias, in which the pain of thirst is satisfied by the pleasure of drinking. (Actually, the point Socrates was making in Gorgias is that pleasure is not equal to the good, and pain is not the same as evil.)

Fumurescu also noted in passing that, contrary to folklore, research shows women are more sensitive to pain than men.