THE HUMEM STATE

Like all dynamic entities, humems require good health to develop their full potential.

 

According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Here we examine how humem health can be understood in a comparably broad manner and what role the humem-state plays in promoting it.

 

Clearly, as with people and other living beings, a suitable environment and security from malicious harm are precursors to humem health. In the sections on Infrastructure and Security we discuss how the state plays a crucial part in both these areas.

 

Let’s now consider some additional facets of humem well-being:

 

Size and Development

A healthy being must be able to grow to its full natural extent in order to attain its maximum potential.

 

For example, most higher animals grow until adulthood and then more or less maintain both their size and cognitive abilities for the duration of their healthy lives. Adult animals’ limited size and capabilities are congruent with an environment that itself has largely static physical parameters—at least for the span of an individual’s life or a few generations. The strength of the planet’s gravity, the nature of the animal’s food sources or predators, and the size and capabilities of its mates, peers, and rivals within its own species—all these and many additional factors place constraints on the animal’s own size and capabilities if it is to survive, reproduce, and successfully interact with others.

 

In this respect, humems are fundamentally different. They have no currently known limitations to their dimensions—such as their total information content, or to their counterparts to cognitive abilities—such as their information processing power. The substrate on which they currently exist, which is primarily digital media, is rapidly expanding. In tandem, individuals’ EPs—the basis of their humems’ bodies and abilities—are also proliferating. Thus, humems, in general, can continue to expand their dimensions and capabilities indefinitely.

 

Just as we cannot attribute good health to an adult person (or animal) with the size and cognitive abilities of an infant, a humem with much smaller proportions and fewer abilities in relation to its peers cannot be said to be healthy. It is unable to properly interact with others. The resultant segregation further reduces its development and social significance.

 

Thus, to remain healthy, humems must be able to develop in tandem with the environment in which they exist and those with whom they interact. To this end, like their peers, they must be able to continually adopt and integrate state-of-the-art technology.

 

Maintenance and Renewal

Living forms have complex metabolisms for maintaining and replenishing their various constituents. Much of the material that makes up our bodies is replenished in the course of our lifetimes. Many components, such as skin cells, are regularly discarded and replaced. Yet an overall form, recognizable as the individual, persists.

 

Comparably, the physical medium on which the humem exists needs to be maintained and replenished. Traditional EP carriers, such as paper and ink, gradually decompose. Modern EP carriers, such as physical devices for digital data storage and logical file formats, are often even less durable. They must be regularly replaced and updated to remain viable.

 

In the simplest of terms, EP residing on aging or unused hardware, encoded in obsolete or proprietary formats, and inaccessible by modern applications, is unhealthy and prone to degeneration. Conversely, EP on new electronic hardware, encoded in modern, widely used formats, and accessible by the applications relevant to its existence, is healthy. It has good prospects for development and longevity.

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There are many additional factors affecting humem health, but these examples provide a basis for understanding the implications of health within the humem-state. By continuously evaluating, certifying, and integrating commercially provided, best-in-class technologies and services, the humem-state will establish and continue to develop an environment in which individual humems can accrue from without, and grow from within, all that which comprises their physical existence. It will provide the mechanisms—technological, organizational, and economical—to allow humems to maintain and renew their constituents and thereby achieve general physical and social well-being—or good health.