Human controlled evolution
In the future, when we get to the stage where artificial human augmentation is a safe and affordable service to the public.
Is it acceptable to surrender our uninjured limbs for more powerful mechanic ones? To give up our organic organs for synthetic ones.
Where is it alright to end. Would it be alright to modify the DNA of children yet to be born in order to improve their memory, analytical ability, physical strength, etc?
Also if anyone has played Deus Ex Human Revolution then you'll understand the reason for the question.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It is inevitable anyway .. as people are selfish individuals, it will start with just a few doing it & then it'll become a fad & everyone will have to have at least some type of modification (if for no other reason but to prove that they are cool too), and eventually it will become standard practice - may as well accept it.
enealk
Level 4
Nov 21, 2017
1
I have to say that this issue is a REALLY tricky question. My heart says 'Don't mess with the genome you don't know what you're doing' & then my head says 'But there's no question that evolution has randomly thrown in some totally dumb handicaps we can do without like retinas that face the wrong way & create blind spots the size of 6 full moons in each eye!' Thinking about it in a rational rather than emotional manner tips me on the scale to say "allow but regulate" - esp. where congenital conditions can be avoided & people may suffer terribly as a result. Should we be able to genetically modify our children's brains & other body parts just because we CAN? As an atheist it sticks in my throat to say it but I want to say 'No that would be playing god.'
Paul
Level 5
Nov 21, 2017
0
If this were available..it will only be attained by the super wealthy
Ravenwolfcasey
Level 7
Nov 20, 2017
0
That is true but I did say "when we get to the stage where artificial human augmentation is a safe and affordable service to the public."
But it's likely that wealthier people will be able to afford better enhancements.
it will happen slowly and the rich will benefit mostly but at the same time AI will begin to rule our daily lives so enjoy your lives . we may be living in the best era for humans in a natural state
markdevenish
Level 7
Nov 20, 2017
1
You're probably right.
Also there is no such thing as the best era for humans in a natural state. I'm going to respond to this comment the way that Rick Sanchez does. "We have no frame of reference" since we only live in our era, we can't judge if ours will be the best or worst relative to the future or past since we weren't and won't be alive
I do not welcome an age of even further loss of privacy and increased techno-slavery. We should use the bodies and mind we were given, i'm quite certain customization is possible but we are not at that level of intelligence yet, as a race. Further technological advancement to this level would make our entire race weaker and more co-dependent.
JHeyoka
Level 5
Nov 20, 2017
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As a species, we have always been weak. So why should we reject something that could allow us to become better at everything we do?
Just a counter question. You do make a good point
I think there is a certain degree to which technology is very helpful and that is certainly debatable, but if we get to bladerunner status then i think its over for us.
If we create AI machines to do everything for us, soon there won't be anyone left to serve.
My best friend raised the same argument as you. It is true that an over dependence on machines will remove certain jobs, we have already seen this happen with globalization where countries have given up lower paying jobs to foreign companies. Margret Thatcher did this in Britain and it resulted in a massive number of people committing suicide because they couldn't find work. Mainly cause she rushed it but hey, gender equality. Women need to start taking lives more seriously if they want the same status as men (Just a joke).
When we do get to the stage that we develop fully sentient AI they won't go on a killing rampage as we predicted (unless we program them to do so) due to the meaning and purpose of life. Anyway, long story short we need to transition this very slowly. We need to keep human jobs available but also integrate AI into systems that could save lives like cars, when we get to the stage where artificial human augmentation is a safe and affordable service to the public. aeroplanes, etc.
I don't think this is about jobs. Personally i detest the dialogue about 'america needs jobs'. We don't need jobs, we need better ways to connect to ourselves and each other and the land and world around us. We need things worth doing, and thing worth doing doesn't feel like a job. Working in a stupid corporate program that capitalizes on inefficiency and planned obsolescence in order to make useless baubles to distract people is a job. We don't need any more of that.
Work is just a service we provide for others. We are given money as a measure of how hard we have worked. Capitalism in this specific case is the ideal system where you are rewarded equally for your labour.
I know there is the argument about it creates class systems, monopolies, oligarques, etc. But at the end of the day work is necessary to survive. If we don't work we can't feed our families or take care of them. We just need a way to live.
And very few people share the sentiment of "things worth doing don't feel like a job". Every goal requires sacrifice. Everything we do requires work in order to gain rewards. You work or you die. Simple as that.
Well there are lots of services i would be glad to do for others and am very capable of doing. I don't think i need the government deciding what that is, though, and i don't need them charging me for minding my own business, and i certainly don't know what they hell we're going to do with all of this concrete and asphalt that requires way too much upkeep.
I voted they should choose for themselves, and here's why: They're already doing it.
Paul628
Level 8
Nov 20, 2017
1
That's true. I'm surprised you're the only one who noticed it. We have been artificially enhancing the human body for decades and no one has really resisted it en masse. We have artificial medicines, artificial limbs, etc.
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