zzzzzzzzz Come on Oslo be sensible. You are sounding like those bitter fans that wanted us kicked out of the league over Faulingate.
So those with inherited wealth could also be given enhanced intelligence - the opposite of what we seem to have currently. Perhaps they could identify an empathy gene and enhance that.
The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else. Aristotle
Maybe so but Remain broke far more and if leave get fined for overspending, then surely remain must be fined more for spending at least a 3rd more, oh hang on, the committee who deals out the fines are all remainers or labour and Lib Dem has beens, hardly a ringing endorsement me thinks.
It was a genuine question mate no trickery involved. It does lead to another question though...which I think you may already know
Do you think we have a choice whether it happens or not? Gattaca is a work of fiction as far as I know. Not every wealthy person has inherited their money Strolls. A couple won it on the lotto. And many worked for it. Many people in the world don’t have access to something like a hip replacement, if they need one, but you do*. Exactly the same principle if fairness is the issue. As above, we probably won’t have a choice. I’m all for it. Standard Homo sapiens has created the **** up we have now, time for an upgrade. We’re still operating on iOS 6. And anyway, even homo superior will be puny compared to the machines that will be around soon, with the ability to create new and better versions of themselves. Brilliant. Us meat sacks will one day be totally redundant. If you are interested in this kind of thing I recommend you read Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. Nothing is written in stone of course. *or maybe you don’t. I read today that the NHS is rationing hernia operations, so that only people whose condition has got so bad that they can’t work or look after themselves will get one. If true this is a policy of truly mind numbing stupidity.
But I didn't say wealthy, I said those with inherited wealth. The point being that their parents would be able endow them with enhanced intelligence and health as well as wealth that they would not have to work for. This shouldn't be something that you can buy for your offspring. As I said, enhanced empathy would be more beneficial to the common good than enhanced health or intelligence, in my opinion.
Yes Gattaca is a work of fiction. For now. Science fiction used to include men going to the moon. People talking on phones not connected by a big wire. Video-conferencing. Sat-nav (in Goldfinger even, a far more basic sat-nav than you have on your phone is touted as one of Bond's best gadgets). What is science fiction today generally becomes science fact tomorrow. You offer parents the ability to design their babies, and you'll get Gattaca. The wealthy will choose to enhance intelligence, fitness, longevity, looks, etc. and the poor will be left behind. Who's gonna get the top jobs? Not the ugly gimp with the gammy leg, but the Adonis with an IQ of 170 and a long life of health and productivity in front of them. Gattaca. So still - no thanks.
And then how far down the line do we go til we get into mutant/x-men territory? I'm not on about the ability to fly etc, but enhanced perception, super athletesism, super strength? Some dubious world powers could/will develop super soldiers, impervious to pain etc - yes, I know it's sci-fi at the moment, but the rate that technology is evolving these are very real applications of gene modification. On the same lines, there was a report today suggesting that AI will enhance job prospects instead of reducing employment, alhough the sectors that humans would be employed in would be radically different to that of today... AI will create as many jobs as it displaces - report - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44849492
I get your point, but just to be clear you are making a distinction between what parents with inherited wealth do for their kids and what parents who have generated their own wealth do? Of course parents (however wealthy or otherwise) do everything they can to give their children an unearned leg up now, beyond breeding itself it’s just about the most primal instinct that there is, even stronger than the community instinct. Not directed at you, but I find it really interesting the emotions that this topic raises, essentially about ‘fairness’. But nothing is ‘fair’ now, and we do little or nothing about it. I think it’s the science aspect that does it. Several thousand years ago there were a number of different types of humans around, with the Neanderthals the most commonly known. There were also many more species of big animals - mega fauna. In pretty short order Homo sapiens wiped out all ALL of the competing types of humans and nearly all of the mega fauna - the archeological record shows that soon after sapiens migrated into an area, all the other big stuff died out. Now we are creating the means of our own extinction, and I think it’s pretty neat, with a certain circular elegance. We’re nothing special, just another species, albeit a very destructive one. (See Harari’s first book, Sapiens). The timescale of that report into AI is puny. The impact of this stuff will be constant but hard to perceive. I wish some of it were here now and available to me - gene modification to give me immunity against cancer, heart disease, dementia, and a variety of mental illnesses I would gladly pay for. If you can throw in better eyesight and strength, why not? And I would suggest that most parents would want them for their kids as well.
What you're describing, in essence, is the US Health System writ large. We already see a very definite two-tier health experience over there, where if you're wealthy or have a good job, you can basically get what you need when you need it, but you also have others who can't afford to even fill a prescription. And yes - people are dying over there for lack of the price of a generic prescription drug. When you start offering choices, the rich and the poor get further apart. The ONLY way that this could be prevented - even for a short while - is to ban any private medical procedures relating to gene manipulation, and make it available only though the NHS or similar. Paid for by everyone through taxes, and available to everyone. And we all know how likely that is...
that's interesting to know...... I already knew humans were the most destructive species on the planet. Agent Smith was correct... It's something that often causes mixed emotions in me. I feel sad when i read articles of people dying, get angry at murders and often give to tramps and buskers. At the same time, i do feel that we are overpopulating and that all the mechanisms for controlling our numbers have effectively been controlled (war, disease, disasters, sustenance) and that i shouldn't feel sad bad because we are slowing killing our world I like the last part, i would deffo pay to potentially live forever!!!!!!!!
