How much does Alex value his identity?

Alex makes good points in his last on transhumanism, but I fear he has not responded to my challenge.  True, we should let people emigrate, despite the resulting losses of identity among their children.  But keep in mind most people don't emigrate even when they can achieve higher living standards; check out the EU.  That suggests a big vote for identity.

I still want to know how much identity is worth at the margin (well, Alex?).  Do you not love curling?  Or perhaps your son's middle name? 

So work backwards to transhumanism.  We cannot and should not ban it, but to what extent should we regulate/tax/patent/subsidize it?  We don't know until we determine the value of identity at the margin. The Icelanders -- all 279,000 of them -- are not crazy to insist on some language skills for their immigrants; they would otherwise be overwhelmed and lose their way of life.  The fact that their customs are changing each generation anyway -- and often quite radically -- is beside the point.  Nor is it relevant that many Icelanders emigrate to the U.S.. 

The bottom line is that we insist on some forms of control but not others.  We can either deconstruct these differences as irrational, or we can treat them as preferences to be respected.  Is it so obvious that the former method is to be preferred?

And of course the transhumanists themselves take great pride in identifying with the forward march of technological progress.  Scratch a pragmatist and you get a Platonist, as they say...

So let's hold off the velociraptors for just a moment.