Greetings good citizen, in the interests of full disclosure I went to see Marvel's 'Civil War' last night and, while quite good, [CGI has really taken the action flick to the next level] it set the hamster wheel spinning when the movie alluded to the 'next frontier'...albeit one as old as the search for the 'fountian of youth'.
Because Marvel's universe rotates around characters with 'extraordinary abilities' and we live in a realm where what's possible drives what is...once 'unique powers' start turning up, they won't be 'unique' for long. [Especially if they come out of a test tube!]
Most common among comic book heroes is 'super strength' although the scientists delving into our, er, 'genetic inheritance' will most likely focus first on enhanced healing capabilities and perhaps couple that with enhanced armor.
The next low hanging fruit would be intellect, beefing up the old brain box...although that enhancement wouldn't be for 'general consumption'. What if all those mental giants went off the reservation together?
Muscle beach first followed by the brainiacs...and most likely the brainacs will not be physically 'enhanced' although the possibility that improved mental 'capacity' could result in some unintended consequences like telepathy and mind control, creating havoc for those intent on keeping 'the genie' in the bottle.
If you want to get down to it, the Old testament is overflowing with 'super-beings'...along with the implication that they were 'created', suggesting we may have already been here.
Angels and demons are two sides of the same coin, divided solely by 'good and evil'...which isn't much to go on depending on your internal agenda.
Yes, good citizen. Since Darwin first floated his theory of evolution humanity has become enthralled with the idea of 'improving' the breed/herd.
Lacking imagination, early experimenters started breeding programs while those not clear on the concept got busy 'culling' undesirable stock, often going as far as the forced sterilization of prisoners...which is to point out that some of them took the 'breeding' part of the concept a little too literally.
So, are there 'enhanced beings' living among us? If you read the Bible they are but those of our own 'vintage' probably aren't walking the streets just yet.
Our grand-children's children's children MAY, (if human civilization lasts that long) be able to pop in to the 'build a kid' facility and custom order an enhanced version of their off-spring but it wouldn't be in the kind of world we'd recognize.
I think we'd all agree that we, as a species, aren't mature enough to live in a world that is filling up with 'enhanced' individuals. Add to that the certaintly that those receiving the enhancements will come from the ranks of the privileged and you get the worst possible scenario...and quite probably an extinction level event.
It only takes one for the whole thing to go sideways...but that's just the pessimist in me, history be damned!
Which is to opine that we won't be ready to start optimizing humanity until we fix the 'inequality problem'.
Problem? What problem?
Yeah, THAT problem...
Don't let your imagination run too wild as you pick your preferred enhancements (although at this early stage of the game it is extremely unlikely you'll get them...so go nuts!)
Just remember the laws of escalation, regardless of how tough you are there's always something/one tougher. When irresistable force meets immovable object...cataclysm.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
Because Marvel's universe rotates around characters with 'extraordinary abilities' and we live in a realm where what's possible drives what is...once 'unique powers' start turning up, they won't be 'unique' for long. [Especially if they come out of a test tube!]
Most common among comic book heroes is 'super strength' although the scientists delving into our, er, 'genetic inheritance' will most likely focus first on enhanced healing capabilities and perhaps couple that with enhanced armor.
The next low hanging fruit would be intellect, beefing up the old brain box...although that enhancement wouldn't be for 'general consumption'. What if all those mental giants went off the reservation together?
Muscle beach first followed by the brainiacs...and most likely the brainacs will not be physically 'enhanced' although the possibility that improved mental 'capacity' could result in some unintended consequences like telepathy and mind control, creating havoc for those intent on keeping 'the genie' in the bottle.
If you want to get down to it, the Old testament is overflowing with 'super-beings'...along with the implication that they were 'created', suggesting we may have already been here.
Angels and demons are two sides of the same coin, divided solely by 'good and evil'...which isn't much to go on depending on your internal agenda.
Yes, good citizen. Since Darwin first floated his theory of evolution humanity has become enthralled with the idea of 'improving' the breed/herd.
Lacking imagination, early experimenters started breeding programs while those not clear on the concept got busy 'culling' undesirable stock, often going as far as the forced sterilization of prisoners...which is to point out that some of them took the 'breeding' part of the concept a little too literally.
So, are there 'enhanced beings' living among us? If you read the Bible they are but those of our own 'vintage' probably aren't walking the streets just yet.
Our grand-children's children's children MAY, (if human civilization lasts that long) be able to pop in to the 'build a kid' facility and custom order an enhanced version of their off-spring but it wouldn't be in the kind of world we'd recognize.
I think we'd all agree that we, as a species, aren't mature enough to live in a world that is filling up with 'enhanced' individuals. Add to that the certaintly that those receiving the enhancements will come from the ranks of the privileged and you get the worst possible scenario...and quite probably an extinction level event.
It only takes one for the whole thing to go sideways...but that's just the pessimist in me, history be damned!
Which is to opine that we won't be ready to start optimizing humanity until we fix the 'inequality problem'.
Problem? What problem?
Yeah, THAT problem...
Don't let your imagination run too wild as you pick your preferred enhancements (although at this early stage of the game it is extremely unlikely you'll get them...so go nuts!)
Just remember the laws of escalation, regardless of how tough you are there's always something/one tougher. When irresistable force meets immovable object...cataclysm.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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