Some previous thread mentioned the potential usefulness of a large database containing private medical information, and possibly genetic detail as well. While I agree on the tremendous constructive potential of such a hypothetical data-mine, I seriously doubt that Mankind has the moral integrity to use this type of knowledge responsibly. Supposing for example, a particular genetic "defect" were found with such a database to have a 90% correlation with the presence of epilepsy. Immediately, doctors & scientists would strive to find a way to gain some leverage against this "defect." We might for example see a testing procedure for human fetuses to determine whether a particular pregnancy "should be" terminated. People would become famous, and much money would change hands due to this "discovery." Generally people will conclude that Science has given them more control over their lives than they previously had. The problem is, nobody really understands just what this "defect" really means. Nobody understands why it is there, or what kind of a choice we are really making my attempting to remove it from our gene pool. Remember that Sickle Cell Anemia is caused by a genetic "defect". We are lucky enough to know that the carriers of this "defect" are uniquely able to survive certain plagues. This so-called "defect", as troublesome as it may be to some individuals, is really a latent strength, which is how natural selection reinforced it in the first place, and we may need it again. The term "defect" is therefore entirely out of line. We have no business placing judgements from our own limited material value sets onto something which has the definite potential of affecting all future generations of Humanity. It's none of our business. Further, when such a database is eventually created, I ask not "who" but "what" will have access to it? What kind of non-sentient group mentality will have sufficient authority and be presumptuous enough to declare itself morally objective? What kind of a larger process might such an entity be unwittingly serving? We already have many times more material knowledge than we are morally capable of handling as a species. Here's one tiny example. The most widespread use of the knowledge of psychology is guess what? Advertising and Marketing. Our average American sits entranced watching hours of television daily, unwittingly absorbing countless impressions by advertisers with more money than morality. Can he identify the "glittering generalities" or the "bandwagon appeals" or any of the other effective forms of propaganda? Does he know the truth from a lie when sexual titillation is part of the presentation? May he readily accept what is presented, and most of all: Does he see himself sitting there, absorbing these impressions? We don't see our selves in action. We can't know what we're doing. None of us have developed sufficient "presence" to know what we are really doing most of the time. We can't possibly be objective, except in extremely rare, life-changing moments, and even then only if we're lucky. Just thinking about yourself thinking isn't enough, because where are your emotions? Do you really understand why your thoughts are what they are? Did *YOU* put those thoughts in your head intentionally, or did they sort of happen on their own... one thought following another through some combination of association and external stimuli? And while you've been busy reading this, with your attention directed outward, why haven't you been aware of the sensation in your feet, or the tension in your face, or your posture, or your breath? As westerners we have directed so much of our attention "outward" that we develop little or no objective knowledge of what goes on within us. Can we break this cycle? If there really are esoteric schools, with disciplines and methodologies of obtaining self-knowledge, then this knowledge must be such that by its very nature, it cannot possibly be communicated successfully in any large, public manner. But I digress. As a reader of this list, have you ever asked yourself Why, why is it that you personally want strong encryption to be widely available? It's a very powerful emerging technology, and it's in the palm of your hands. Douglas B. Renner dougr@usa.globelle.com