Okay, we are talking about genetic manipulation this week. Its not an easy topic, but it is fascinating. As a science fiction lover I know all about the warnings, and they aren’t too far off base. We’re not exactly the most patient species. Whenever we discover something new-we must use it right away. We’re instinctively obsessed with leaping blind into voids. Naturally curious. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
My own thoughts are very personal. I had a rough childhood. I was sickly, with asthma and tons of allergies. I was short and overweight. I had crooked teeth and frizzy hair. If I could have taken a pill to turn me into a tall, thin blonde with a beaming white smile and a tiny waist I would have in an instant. Then.
But not now.
All of my experiences and even-if not especially-my deficiencies-have made me who I am. I learned empathy and developed my imagination. I learned to laugh at myself and how to walk through the world my way, on my terms.
Now you might say, what about serial killers and psychotic dictators? We could wipe them out completely. Well, as someone noted yesterday, though tempting, if you wipe out all the crazy then you could lose creativity: art and music, fiction etc, even science and invention…all the prodigies gone.
If we all became uniformly exceptional, then none of us would be.
You could also say we transplant organs, and replace blood and surgically alter our bodies. Inject poison into our foreheads, enlarge our breasts-there are even people seriously considering having wings and tails grafted onto their bodies. So what makes genetic alteration different?
How easy would it be, do you think, to turn the desire to change a genetic predisposition to heart disease into the perfect child? A genius with enhanced senses and physical abilities. A human without flaw.
I don’t deny or question the science. The science is tremendous and amazing and potentially world altering. It can be used to heal and end suffering. I question the people who use it. We have not been genetically altered. We are not perfect. We are burdened with darker emotions and personal agendas and the desire for instant gratification.
I believe in the soul. And as tough as it sometimes is to swallow, I believe that the physical and emotional challenges we face are all expressions of lessons our soul needs to learn to evolve. If we artificially create perfection, is that evolution…or cheating?
June 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
People are seriously wanting tails and wings grafted onto their bodies? That is so cool. And really, really creepy.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
You know, Lori and I discussed the correlation between depression and writing. I wonder, if we took a “pill” to get rid of clinical depression altogether, what would happen to that dark creativity?
I’m with you RG. I like me the way I am–flaws and all.
June 28th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Everybody “perfect”
How absolutely boring would that be. We’re all different because we’re supposed to be. I love science fiction and supernatural stuff too R.G. I’ve been knee deep in J.D. Robbs In Death series the last few weeks and even though she head hops like crazy I love me some Eve and Roarke. And the futuristic world she’s created…man, I love it. And when I sit and read her books I do wonder what our world is going to be like 30-40-50 years from now. I wonder if she’s waaaay off base or if some of the “creativity” that leaps off her pages will in actuality be “fact” before too long.