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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
 Posted - 06/30/2004 : 19:04:18 [Permalink]
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coberst wrote:quote:
That is we are begining to be able to make significant modifications in the very nature and structure of humans.
When a single significant modification of the nature or structure of a single human being has been completed without the subject's death, it'll be a big-news day. And then you will be able to say that "we are beginning to be able" to do it. Nobody has yet demonstrated that we are able to do it now.
Also, there is quite a bit of literature on the subject, as it has been discussed - philosophically and theoretically, especially in the works of Sci-Fi authors - for many years. I imagine, ever since DNA was "decoded." If the wisdom to make good choices about how to use this technology doesn't already lie somewhere in those (probably tens of thousands of) pages, we are, indeed, doomed.
But so what? If humans die out, life will go on. Perhaps our self-destruction will make way for the "next wave" in highly-intelligent life. Perhaps our insistence on survival is actually prohibiting a much wiser and more productive lifeform from coming to the fore and doing great works towards a truly utopian galaxy. How selfish of us. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 19:44:20 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by coberst
<snip>We are quickly reaching a point in which we can play the role of god.
Sound bite.
quote:
That is we are begining to be able to make significant modifications in the very nature and structure of humans. This capacity creats a dangerous problem that requires wisdom to make good decisions.
What capacity do we have to modify the nature and structure of humans and why is this a 'dangerous' problem? Sources, please.  |
-Chaloobi
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 19:52:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
When a single significant modification of the nature or structure of a single human being has been completed without the subject's death, it'll be a big-news day. <snip>
Dave W - I keep getting these emails about modifying a very specific part of my structure that my wife keeps encouraging me to look into. Maybe we're further along than you think. 
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-Chaloobi
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 21:34:16 [Permalink]
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Chaloobi wrote:quote:
Maybe we're further along than you think.
I see that my ass is not the only one around here with intelligence. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 23:25:20 [Permalink]
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quote:
Perhaps our insistence on survival is actually prohibiting a much wiser and more productive lifeform from coming to the fore and doing great works towards a truly utopian galaxy. How selfish of us.
Color me selfish. It is in the nature of life to fight for survival I think.
quote:
One new area that creates a difficult problem is in molecular biology. We are quickly reaching a point in which we can play the role of god.
Role of god? If we accomplish tasks within our own capability to do so, then we are playing our own role.
quote:
That is we are begining to be able to make significant modifications in the very nature and structure of humans. This capacity creats a dangerous problem that requires wisdom to make good decisions.
What is the nature of a human? I'm not sure, and I'm not sure it's relevent to this topic.
What signifigant modifications, specifically, are you referring to? There have been a couple of articles out recently talking about gene-doping, because of the upcomming olympics. Mostly just rumor as the equipment is tremendously (well, within the reach of any government or large company who sponsors athletes) expensive and the technique hasn't been used on anything except mice in controlled studies.... Steriods are one thing, but genetic engineering for performance enhancement using substances and techniques that have not been tested in humans? Unlikely at best. And this isn't what I would consider a signifigant modification.
But yes, wisdom in bioethics should be well considered before attempting to modify a persons genetic structure. This is a topic that has generated ALOT of debate http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=bioethics and will continue to do so.
I'm not really sure where your going with this one coberst. |
Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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coberst
Skeptic Friend
182 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 07:01:22 [Permalink]
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| I am not going anywhere with this Dude I just want to get off this topic and move on to something different. I have a hot new posting ready for the presses. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 07:37:47 [Permalink]
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coberst wrote:quote:
I am not going anywhere with this Dude I just want to get off this topic and move on to something different.
Then why, why, why did you spend so much time complaining about how our questions wouldn't move the topic forward?
[Bangs head on table] |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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coberst
Skeptic Friend
182 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 15:46:46 [Permalink]
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| David I did not notice any movement. I noticed only gridlock. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 18:35:17 [Permalink]
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coberst wrote:quote:
David I did not notice any movement. I noticed only gridlock.
Had you supplied the information requested, perhaps things would have moved forward. You didn't give us that chance, however. Instead, you complained about being challenged at all. Moving a topic forward without sound premises is also a waste of time, however. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 19:40:12 [Permalink]
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Dude wrote:quote:
Color me selfish. It is in the nature of life to fight for survival I think.
Don't get me wrong: when faced with the choice of continued life for me and my family on the one hand, and an unknown, unmeasurable, and unsure possibility of "something better," I choose me. I was just suggesting that if something humans do to themselves with technology makes us extinct, it could be a "good thing" from the point of view of history.
For example, while dinosaurs are cool and all, I'm very glad they all croaked when they did. We probably wouldn't be here now if they hadn't. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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coberst
Skeptic Friend
182 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 04:17:01 [Permalink]
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Dave you ask me to play the role of Sisyphus. Following a dog hunting rabbits is fun but not when you are hunting birds.
Let us just decide we cannot go any further with this matter and move on. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 11:26:43 [Permalink]
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| coberst, if you think the task of supporting your assertions is Sisyphusian, then I submit that they are not good assertions. In just a few clicks of the mouse, I can support the basic ideas of evolution, physics, math, etc.. When dealing with facts, the process is simple, straightforward, and ends quickly. Supporting speculation or faith, however, can indeed be Sisyphusian, as we see so often with fundamentalists. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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