Posted on 04/22/2002 10:31:59 AM PDT by gordgekko
His fears are justified based on his premise, but his hypothosis is only one of many possible ones. Regardless, it is a restatement of the chicken or egg dilemma, or, do we shape our environment or does it shape us? Was prehistoric man's basic nature really the same as ours today? Even without genetic meddling, will our basic nature be the same a million years from now?
Perhaps it's later than we think. Fukuyama can call for all the controls he wants; that's not going to stop freelancers from pursuing their own visions of the Holy Grail. And regardless of either Fukuyama's vision of tight controls or the realities of laissez faire science, we already live in interesting genetic times.
Imal
That's actually an interesting question given the recent pronouncements by some scientists that humans have stopped evolving because we can now deal with any environmental change and we no longer choose our mates based on the principles used by our distant ancestors.
Tinfoil hat or not, it is possible.
I thought they stopped allowing Epsilons from making major social pronouncements.
He should just quit. Anyone that could make such a feeble prediction has no business trying to predict the future. He might be interesting on a superficial level, but is guaranteed to be wrong. People like this always see catastrophe ahead unless everyone does as they suggest.
The truth is no one person knows enough to provide a perfect future. Only millions of independent people looking out for their own self interest will provide a future in which we will all want to live. Central planning doesn't work.
To which I respond, "Keep your Fukuyama laws off of my genes!" Who asked him, anyway?
This is particularly rich. The whole issue of biotechnology is one of hope and fear. Fukuyama would crush those hopes and fears with the iron fist of government coercion. What does that remind you of?
given that we can never have absolute knowledge, modifying the genes of our descendants meddles with processes we do not completely understand and may bring repercussions we may be regret decades or centuries down the line.
It is only going to take one stupid mistake to create some virus or microbe that turns out to be the ultimate disease organism, against which humans have no defense. Frankly, I think that one is far more likely than any of these "how humans will behave in the 23rd century" scenarios. There are crazy people out there, like the mysterious anthrax killer, who would try to build such a thing on purpose, just because they're nuts. Give them a technology with which to build it, and they will do so. And if they don't, the Saddam Husseins of the world will. For the longest time, we all thought we had the "nuclear genie" in the bottle. Laws, treaties, and regulations would keep atomic weaponry out of the hands of kookburgers. Does anyone believe that anymore? How far is Al Qaeda or Saddam from smuggling one of these damned things into New York or Washington? Nobody really knows, but the guy who says "Absolutely no way" is as crazy as they are. Biotech is a technology that can be applied using much simpler means that are easily acquired and just as easy to hide. It looks like the anthrax spores really were done by one Mad Scientist someplace using techniques that are unknown to our bioterrorism experts. Could the technology have benefits? Sure. My personal method for dealing with such tradeoffs is to measure the cost of making a mistake. If we make a mistake with this stuff, literally everyone could die. That's a big penalty for making a simple mistake. Personally, I would avoid that one. Let's make our mistakes with choices like whether to explore space, or mine the oceans. It's easier to live with the consequences if things go badly. |
Dumb, dumb, dumb. How does he plan to stop cloning, once it becomes feasable? If I want to clone myself -- horrible thought! -- who could stop me? I'd go to some country where it's legal, and get it done. I'd bring my "son" home, and who would know the difference? Better still, I'll bring the impregnated woman home with me, and my clone will be born an American citizen. What will the feds do if they discover that he's a clone? Kill him? Of course not. When cloning is possible, all the laws in the world won't stop it. Nor should they.
Who "owns" YOUR DNA?
End of argument.
Problem is that we do not know enough to use this technology. That famous cloned sheep did not live very long. It also took hundreds of dead sheep before they got it. We do not even know what every gene in the human body does - and that is less than 5% of our genome. The rest we barely understand, but we know that it is extremely important in telling what the 5% we know about does. Seems to me that this is a very dangerous procedure, destructive of human life (the many tries it takes to get a working clone), and demeaning of the individual produced in such a manner. Seems to me it is quite a lot to lose just to satisfy the egos of a few rich people who wish to xerox themselves.
That's hard to say in my case. The UN has declared that my DNA is on the "World Heritage List" of irreplacable treasures.
Uh-huh, and the National Organization of Women has declared my natural bodily fluids to be "Most Pure" on the planet.
Yes. It's rare indeed to find a totally untapped source.
"I do not reject women, Mandrake, but I do deny them my essense." - Gen. Jack D. Ripper, "Dr. Strangelove"
Mandrake: Now look, Colonel... Bat Guano, if that really is your name, may I tell you that I have a very, very good idea, I think, I hope, I pray, what the recall code is. It's some sort of recurrent theme he kept repeating. It's a variation on Peace on Earth or Purity of Essence. E O P. O P E. It's one of those!Guano: Put your hands up on top of your head. Start walking.
Mandrake: Don't you know that General Ripper went as mad as a bloody march hare and sent the while wing to attack the Soviets? Don't you know that?
Guano: "I think you and your pals are a bunch of deviated preverts, and Gen. Ripper caught you and was going to turn you in for all your preversions."
Mandrake: "Shoot the bloody lock off the soda machine, so I can use the change to call the president and get the Wing recalled. Shoot it, SHOOT IT, you bloody twit; that's what the bullets are for!"
Guano: "Okay, Mandrake... I'll get you your change, but you know what's gonna happen to you if you DON'T get the President of the United States on the phone?"
Mandrake: "WHAT?"
Guano: "You're gonna have to answer to the Cocoa Cola company!"
[from memory]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.