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[Futaleufu]

Being serious for a moment, if this is actually a thing, that's game over for humanity. Inequality based on class and income is bad now, but imagine a world where Zuckerberg can spend a billion dollars getting his kids the best genes to make them super-strong and super-intelligent, and ask yourself whether the people running the show will deem the rest of us plebs fit to have the premium gear. Expense will likely drive a 2-tier humanity which really won't end well. Dark fucking times.

Cyborg implants will be the alternative to fight back,

 

[RainblowDash]

Doing this to eradicate disease and genetic defects should be the direction humanity is headed.

 

[Omega Supreme Holopsicon]

I don't believe gene editing can accomplish most of that. But I guess we'll find out.

The regeneration is the most outlandish stuff, but only if you assume ridiculous speed to it, it'd probably take months unless connected to a machine that feeds energy and nutrients. Even embryonic growth is limited by the reality of limited resources and not taxing too much the mother or the limited resources in the egg. With computer assistance and connected to an unlimited nutrients+energy source, it could potentially go much faster, for example even cells could be assimilated to the injury site from an external source of already made cells.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Can they edit a grown ass man? I want my hair back.

I have no faith in any government to wield such power properly not to mention privatization would lead to massive inequalities.

Keep this Pandora's box shut.

Edit: Grammar

You’re right and it’s pretty scary where this might/inevitably will end up one day. The kind of escalation that can occur from this kind of science is pretty dark.

Edit:

Well, theoretically, at least.

 

[Cunth]

Can they edit a grown ass man? I want my hair back.

Would you take it if it meant your pubes also grew out like rapunzel?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Would you take it if it meant your pubes also grew out like rapunzel?

Could be an interesting plot for a Handmaid Tale follow-up.

I was born for only one purpose.

[panning shot across a bunch of overgrown happy-trails]

 

[HarryKS]

Believe it or not, handsome and intelligent people stand to lose the most out of this.

I cannot accept it. Palliative yes, nanomachines absolutely, but preemptive, no.

 

[Insane Metal]

This will not end well. I mean, we will end, probably.

 

[hariseldon]

Believe it or not, handsome and intelligent people stand to lose the most out of this.

I cannot accept it. Palliative yes, nanomachines absolutely, but preemptive, no.

Why do you think I'm so against it? IQ of 500 and a 200 lb penis won't be special anymore...

 

[synchronicity]

For better or worse that's the next step in human evolution.

The definition of human will morph radically in the coming future. I'm not even sure there will be such a clean cut identifier.

tangentially related, but always good:



(always best track from the game)

 

[Pejo]

I think when you sit back and look at it, it's really awesome that we can do this. I mean, who wouldn't want to guarantee a perfectly healthy baby. That said, it's inevitable that someone takes it too far, but i still think overall it's a good thing. We're going to get there eventually, so why drag our feet? The older I get, the less I usually side with "ethics" on these issues. I just want to see how far we can push things before I die.

 

[synchronicity]

Why would I want it reduced?

micropenises are so in vogue now, didn't you know? Everybody who's anybody's got one.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

micropenises are so in vogue now, didn't you know? Everybody who's anybody's got one.

This is the best news I’ve heard all life.

 

[Guiberu]

I think when you sit back and look at it, it's really awesome that we can do this. I mean, who wouldn't want to guarantee a perfectly healthy baby. That said, it's inevitable that someone takes it too far, but i still think overall it's a good thing. We're going to get there eventually, so why drag our feet? The older I get, the less I usually side with "ethics" on these issues. I just want to see how far we can push things before I die.

The way I see it, this is an inevitability.

If it's forcibly "regulated" due to ethical arguments, it will only push the research, experiments, and benefits into the shadows. They'll still exist, but be used only by military, and private sector oligarchs.

That's how you end up with the great divide in so many generations.

The best thing to do at this stage is to increase research on all fronts. Allow the technology to propagate throughout the whole species. Competition forces the process to become cheaper and more readily available. Eventually it becomes trivialized, and everyone has access to the same.

Obviously this is the best case scenario, and the journey itself will likely be rife with trouble, and particularly dark times.

But the potential benefits are, quite literally, species defining.

Increasing general survivability, and requiring considerably less resources, would be of great benefit to the longevity of our planet. Whilst also allowing us to venture further into space, on longer journeys.

There are also then the possibilities surrounding transhumanism. The merging of radiantly wireless linked artificial "cells" and typical human biology would lead to another defining moment. We would have created an entirely new species ; likely vastly superior to our own.

Our innate curiosity as a species guarantees that this is all going to happen. Sooner than any of us can possibly imagine, I would wager.

 

[SKM1]

I don't think any of us will live to see this happen. The amount of things that can go wrong, oh boy. The correct way to do this is to go little by little, step by step, and since humans will not be growing faster, we'll have to wait centuries maybe to see controlled desirable outcomes.

 

[Thurible]

For better or worse that's the next step in human evolution.

Is it truly evolution if man is the one who decides what to change? Do we truly know what we are supposed to be and try to play God?

Also, a little reminder, evolution does not mean a progression to some perfected state. Evolution is simply change over a long period of time (usually as a result of adapting to an environment), sometimes it changes a species for the better and sometimes it changes them for the worse. (My definition may be a bit iffy, but the point stands).

 

[Chairman Tickles]

I don't think any of us will live to see this happen. The amount of things that can go wrong, oh boy. The correct way to do this is to go little by little, step by step, and since humans will not be growing faster, we'll have to wait centuries maybe to see controlled desirable outcomes.

Literally posts this in thread about it having already happened.

If you're into post-humanism, authoritarianism, collectivism, etc and don't care about our species, then it makes sense to support and promote this. It will replace the very evolutionary pressures that have built us over the eons and lead to total harmonization. And not only us; other organisms will receive the 'betterment' treatment as defined by whichever individual, group, faction or government deems which traits are better or worse.

In short, this will result in the complete and utter extinction of all species on the planet. They will be replaced by engineered life forms and they will all tend toward centralization/hiving-because whatever the system, power always corrupts, without exception. It makes absolute sense for those who already control the reigns, to engineer people on the basis of economics and subservience.

You will end up with a world that would make the most eugenic Nazis sweat in terror. That is assured the second this technology is proliferated. Forget Gattaca. That had men, women, black people. The real brave new world will be built for optimal efficiency and control. Every NPC will look identical. Gender won't be relevant as sexual reproduction and reproductive rights will have been eliminated. There will be no sex organs, no varying skin colors. It will all be uniform and precise down to the emotional responses tailored for each caste.

The cat ears, furry suits-all that fun stuff will be reserved for the elite.

Now throw in the prospect of runaway self bettering AI, which would assuredly seize the reproductive and engineering reigns of the castes from the bunny eared over-engineered elite, and you have a dystopia that cannot be escaped or even prevented IF this technology starts being utilized regularly by multiple competing groups.

Fun and related:

Geneticists accidentally engineer mice with especially short, long tails- Scientists stumbled upon the genetic pathway that controls tail developmental in mice. The pathway was discovered accidentally by two separate research groups, both investigating genes related to physiological development.

 

[Rentahamster]

Is it truly evolution if man is the one who decides what to change?

Yes.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

It's not evolution in the Darwinian and Biological sense, no. Selective pressures are not being applied between generations at all. Entire generations are being conceived all at once. It's intelligent design. I suppose you can call it participant or directed evolution but regardless of what you call it, it is still far removed from the innate non directed evolutionary process in biology.

 

[Rentahamster]

Literally posts this in thread about it having already happened.

If you're into post-humanism, authoritarianism, collectivism, etc and don't care about our species, then it makes sense to support and promote this. It will replace the very evolutionary pressures that have built us over the eons and lead to total harmonization. And not only us; other organisms will receive the 'betterment' treatment as defined by whichever individual, group, faction or government deems which traits are better or worse.

In short, this will result in the complete and utter extinction of all species on the planet. They will be replaced by engineered life forms and they will all tend toward centralization/hiving-because whatever the system, power always corrupts, without exception. It makes absolute sense for those who already control the reigns, to engineer people on the basis of economics and subservience.

You will end up with a world that would make the most eugenic Nazis sweat in terror. That is assured the second this technology is proliferated. Forget Gattaca. That had men, women, black people. The real brave new world will be built for optimal efficiency and control. Every NPC will look identical. Gender won't be relevant as sexual reproduction and reproductive rights will have been eliminated. There will be no sex organs, no varying skin colors. It will all be uniform and precise down to the emotional responses tailored for each caste.

The cat ears, furry suits-all that fun stuff will be reserved for the elite.

Now throw in the prospect of runaway self bettering AI, which would assuredly seize the reproductive and engineering reigns of the castes from the bunny eared over-engineered elite, and you have a dystopia that cannot be escaped or even prevented IF this technology starts being utilized regularly by multiple competing groups.

Fun and related:

Geneticists accidentally engineer mice with especially short, long tails- Scientists stumbled upon the genetic pathway that controls tail developmental in mice. The pathway was discovered accidentally by two separate research groups, both investigating genes related to physiological development.

You sure do have a bleak outlook on the future.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

No, this guy did:

The Unincorporated Man is a social/political/economic novel that takes place in a utopian/dystopian future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse and been revived. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares—a task made all the more difficult given that modern medicine has created extraordinarily long life spans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unincorporated_Man

 

[Thurible]

Yes.

How succinct. You answer my question without giving any explanation as to why you believe gene editing is a form of evolution. In my comment, I wrote that evolution is a biological process that takes a long time (it can take millions of years) as a response to an organism's environment. Evolution is NOT a progression to a perfected better state. The changes from evolution can better an organism, do practically nothing to it, or even hinder it.

So, as I have established, evolution is NOT a man-made device as it is an adaptation response to an organism's environment that take millions of years. Evolution does NOT mean an organism is on the road to a perfected state. Now let us consider human gene editing. It doesn't fit the definition of evolution as it doesn't include any of the biological processes a species goes through over this long period of time Chairman Tickles puts it well when he wrote -

It's not evolution in the Darwinian and Biological sense, no. Selective pressures are not being applied between generations at all. Entire generations are being conceived all at once. It's intelligent design. I suppose you can call it participant or directed evolution but regardless of what you call it, it is still far removed from the innate non directed evolutionary process in biology.

And since evolution does not mean a species is perfecting itself, it does not make sense to say that gene editing is a form of evolution. Even if you could somehow "perfect" a human being through the scientific process, it would still not fit under the definition of evolution.

Perhaps you mean to simply say that human gene editing will better mankind. Personally, I disagree with that assessment on ethical grounds. I am willing to tell you my reasoning but I also expect to have your reasoning on the matter as well. Nothing neccessarily wrong with just saying yes or no, it just doesn't really further the discussion.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Being serious for a moment, if this is actually a thing, that's game over for humanity. Inequality based on class and income is bad now, but imagine a world where Zuckerberg can spend a billion dollars getting his kids the best genes to make them super-strong and super-intelligent, and ask yourself whether the people running the show will deem the rest of us plebs fit to have the premium gear. Expense will likely drive a 2-tier humanity which really won't end well. Dark fucking times.

Not in countries with proper governments that ensure this is kepr correctly in check.

Probably a very slow phase in with modification to be disease resistent only.

This doesnt necessarily have to be bad, would be better if we had UBI solved though.

Progress is unstoppable, might as well shape it now, there is no going back if this is true. Especially if it works. No more aids, or.... lots more aids? What about cancer and 80-90 year lifespans? They seem like shit deals

 

[5secondrulesucks]

lmao. nothing is going to happen because of this and you all know it

 

[hariseldon]

Not in countries with proper governments that ensure this is kepr correctly in check.

Probably a very slow phase in with modification to be disease resistent only.

This doesnt necessarily have to be bad, would be better if we had UBI solved though.

Progress is unstoppable, might as well shape it now, there is no going back if this is true. Especially if it works. No more aids, or.... lots more aids? What about cancer and 80-90 year lifespans? They seem like shit deals

I'd struggle to name one I'd trust tbh.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Not in countries with proper governments that ensure this is kepr correctly in check.

You kidding? Who do you think will be the first to abuse this technology? It's going to be the FIrst World, my friend. The places with "proper" governments are the ones with the money and tech to make use of these advances.

 

[LaughingStock]

Is it truly evolution if man is the one who decides what to change? Do we truly know what we are supposed to be and try to play God?

Also, a little reminder, evolution does not mean a progression to some perfected state. Evolution is simply change over a long period of time (usually as a result of adapting to an environment), sometimes it changes a species for the better and sometimes it changes them for the worse. (My definition may be a bit iffy, but the point stands).

Call it something else then. But it's going to happen.

It's not evolution in the Darwinian and Biological sense, no. Selective pressures are not being applied between generations at all. Entire generations are being conceived all at once. It's intelligent design. I suppose you can call it participant or directed evolution but regardless of what you call it, it is still far removed from the innate non directed evolutionary process in biology.

This.

 

[Rentahamster]

How succinct. You answer my question without giving any explanation as to why you believe gene editing is a form of evolution. In my comment, I wrote that evolution is a biological process that takes a long time (it can take millions of years) as a response to an organism's environment. Evolution is NOT a progression to a perfected better state. The changes from evolution can better an organism, do practically nothing to it, or even hinder it.

So, as I have established, evolution is NOT a man-made device as it is an adaptation response to an organism's environment that take millions of years. Evolution does NOT mean an organism is on the road to a perfected state. Now let us consider human gene editing. It doesn't fit the definition of evolution as it doesn't include any of the biological processes a species goes through over this long period of time Chairman Tickles puts it well when he wrote -


And since evolution does not mean a species is perfecting itself, it does not make sense to say that gene editing is a form of evolution. Even if you could somehow "perfect" a human being through the scientific process, it would still not fit under the definition of evolution.

Perhaps you mean to simply say that human gene editing will better mankind. Personally, I disagree with that assessment on ethical grounds. I am willing to tell you my reasoning but I also expect to have your reasoning on the matter as well. Nothing neccessarily wrong with just saying yes or no, it just doesn't really further the discussion.

Well, alright then. Here's a longer answer.

In my comment, I wrote that evolution is a biological process that takes a long time (it can take millions of years) as a response to an organism's environment.

Evolution CAN take a long time, but it doesn't have to. Change can occur within a relatively short time period. It's also not necessarily a response to the environment. It's merely directed by natural selection, where the fittest genes live on to reproduce and get passed on. That selective pressure can come from a variety of things, not just the environment.

Let's pull up the definition, shall we?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution

descent with modification from preexisting species : cumulative inherited change in a population of organisms through time leading to the appearance of new forms : the process by which new species or populations of living things develop from preexisting forms through successive generations

also: the scientific theory explaining the appearance of new species and varieties through the action of various biological mechanisms (such as natural selection, genetic mutation or drift, and hybridization)

One of the things that differentiated us from our other hominid cousins long ago was our propensity for tool use, i.e. technology. It was this differentiation that gave ancient and modern humans an evolutionary advantage and ushered us in as the dominant life form on Earth. Our ability to develop and use tools factors into our own natural selection pressures. Therefore, this:

So, as I have established, evolution is NOT a man-made device as it is an adaptation response to an organism's environment that take millions of years. Evolution does NOT mean an organism is on the road to a perfected state. Now let us consider human gene editing. It doesn't fit the definition of evolution as it doesn't include any of the biological processes a species goes through over this long period of time

...is not an accurate assessment of what evolution is. That statement is more like what you want it to be, rather than what it is. Our harnessing of technology is part of our evolution, and it doesn't have to take millions of years.

http://discovermagazine.com/2015/march/19-life-in-the-fast-lane
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64300/6-animals-are-rapidly-evolving
https://www.sciencealert.com/human-...ning-researchers-think-maybe-faster-than-ever

(links above demonstrating fast evolution)

I'm also not sure why you're talking about the issue of "perfecting" a human. That is irrelevant. "Perfection" is subjective. There is no "perfection", only "fitness". That has nothing to do whether something is or isn't evolution, so it's pointless to use it in your argument.

Humans evolved to use tools. One of our newest tools is gene editing. The humans that choose to utilize this tool may or may not be more fit to carry on their genes to the next generation, and if they are, then so be it. Interestingly enough, we have evolved to the point where we can consciously self-direct our own evolution. We've been doing this already for the hundreds of thousands of years since we developed consciousness. The choices we make of whom we mate with and what kind of direction we drive our culture. We also direct the evolution of other species, not just ours. Dogs, horses, bananas, wheat. Consciously directing evolution of ourselves and other species is one of the trademarks of human civilization, so saying that it's somehow not evolution is ridiculous and ignores our history and nature as a species.

Perhaps you mean to simply say that human gene editing will better mankind.

No, I meant to say that self directed evolution is still evolution, in direct response to your rhetorical question.

i.e.

Is it truly evolution if man is the one who decides what to change?

Yes.

 

[livestOne]

This is not just a violation of chinas "laws" this is a crime againt the entire of humanity. Now we cant just murder the babies we have to let them free in the world and procreate spreading their designer genes and potentially introducing a new path for some future supervirus to wipe us out. I dont say this lightly, this guy should be executed

 

[Deleted member 1235]

You kidding? Who do you think will be the first to abuse this technology? It's going to be the FIrst World, my friend. The places with "proper" governments are the ones with the money and tech to make use of these advances.

There will be abuse sure, but it being also advanced as ‘next level vaccines’ for basic level mods to make things like aids extinct are desireable and could be implemented with strict controls and severe penalties for abuse.

Rich people will abuse it sure, but the cats out of the bag now if this is true, we can’t wish it away

 

[Rentahamster]

spreading their designer genes and potentially introducing a new path for some future supervirus to wipe us out.

Could you please elaborate on how this works, exactly?

 

[strange headache]

Between gene editing, artificial organs, the rapid progress of AI and other technological wonders, transhumanism is no question of "if" but "when". It will be a slow but gradual process, very much akin to the boiling frog problem. In regards to the rapid social and technological development of mankind, our frail bodies are simply not up to the task to challenge the next frontiers of exploration and knowledge.

Considering that humans have learned to transform their environment, it would be silly to assume that we won't be changing ourselves to better adapt to the surroundings we've created. As future problems of science are becoming more and more complex we will be needing better tools and better brains to tackle them. If we truly want to explore space beyond our solar system, body modifications will become an almost incontestable necessity.

Up to this point, natural evolution has served us well enough, but if we want to be successful as a species in the world of tomorrow, we will need to help it along. Of course, all of this will be accompanied with many risks and deeply transformative upheavals as technology will make more and more tools available to us. For the people today, it is a strange and horrifying thing to consider, but for the people of tomorrow it will be normality.

 

[SKM1]

Literally posts this in thread about it having already happened.

If you're into post-humanism, authoritarianism, collectivism, etc and don't care about our species, then it makes sense to support and promote this. It will replace the very evolutionary pressures that have built us over the eons and lead to total harmonization. And not only us; other organisms will receive the 'betterment' treatment as defined by whichever individual, group, faction or government deems which traits are better or worse.

In short, this will result in the complete and utter extinction of all species on the planet. They will be replaced by engineered life forms and they will all tend toward centralization/hiving-because whatever the system, power always corrupts, without exception. It makes absolute sense for those who already control the reigns, to engineer people on the basis of economics and subservience.

You will end up with a world that would make the most eugenic Nazis sweat in terror. That is assured the second this technology is proliferated. Forget Gattaca. That had men, women, black people. The real brave new world will be built for optimal efficiency and control. Every NPC will look identical. Gender won't be relevant as sexual reproduction and reproductive rights will have been eliminated. There will be no sex organs, no varying skin colors. It will all be uniform and precise down to the emotional responses tailored for each caste.

The cat ears, furry suits-all that fun stuff will be reserved for the elite.

Now throw in the prospect of runaway self bettering AI, which would assuredly seize the reproductive and engineering reigns of the castes from the bunny eared over-engineered elite, and you have a dystopia that cannot be escaped or even prevented IF this technology starts being utilized regularly by multiple competing groups.

Fun and related:

Geneticists accidentally engineer mice with especially short, long tails- Scientists stumbled upon the genetic pathway that controls tail developmental in mice. The pathway was discovered accidentally by two separate research groups, both investigating genes related to physiological development.

I was referring to the super humans stuff. And your post is all speculation.

 

[The Elite]

A step off of a cliff.

Not a problem when you have been genetically modified to have wings.

 

[livestOne]

Could you please elaborate on how this works, exactly?

we dont know enough about gene editing to do gene editing, now every country is talking about a race to second place for their own gattaca babies, this is what hes done he set the precedent.

 

[archangelmorph]

Sigh... Let's see what comes next...

 

[synchronicity]

Is it truly evolution if man is the one who decides what to change? Do we truly know what we are supposed to be and try to play God?

I always find it interesting when humanity is somehow viewed as separate from nature / evolution. Why would we be isolated and distinct from the whole?

 

[Verdanth]

Is this nanomachines?

 

[Guiberu]

Is this nanomachines?

Soon.

 

[mild sriracha]

 

[Rentahamster]

we dont know enough about gene editing to do gene editing, now every country is talking about a race to second place for their own gattaca babies, this is what hes done he set the precedent.

I disagree that we don't know enough about it do do it. There have been many revolutionary advances made in the last 10 years. That aside, how specifically, does this lead to a future supervirus wiping us out?

 

[Swauny Jones]

Cyborg implants will be the alternative to fight back,

A temporary solution but it won't put up much of a fight at all.

 

[Swauny Jones]

It was only a matter of time before this was to happen. People aren't a fan of it now, but it will be very widely accepted within two decades mark my words.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

I hope I don't live long enough to see this reach its true potential. I feel bad for my kids though.

 

[AngularSaxophone]

I hope I don't live long enough to see this reach its true potential. I feel bad for my kids though.

People can say no.

 

[triplestation]

The road to immortality starts here.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

If I were very religious, I would be saying "This is why God forbade Adam from eating the Forbidden Fruit", but that is what I think now.

I do not trust anyone with modifying genes, good or bad but I really really don't trust China with this at all.

To do this means we end up losing our humanity and instead try to strive for bending ethnic laws at the cost of the populace.

Knowledge is Power but Power corrupts and does so absolutely.

 

[livestOne]

I disagree that we don't know enough about it do do it. There have been many revolutionary advances made in the last 10 years. That aside, how specifically, does this lead to a future supervirus wiping us out?

I dont disagree that you think you know enough about gene editing to think we know enough about gene editing to continue stumbling forward and though youre pretending to take my obvious hyperbole for the sake of argumnets about oncoming superviruses as literal future fact its not something I thought of, ever since crispr broke through to mainstream laymen and scientests have been discussing possible apocolyptic downsides and a dna virus exploiting clumsy gene editing is one of them

 

[AngularSaxophone]

The road to immortality starts here.

No. It doesn’t.

 

[Rentahamster]

I dont disagree that you think you know enough about gene editing to think we know enough about gene editing to continue stumbling forward and though youre pretending to take my obvious hyperbole for the sake of argumnets about oncoming superviruses as literal future fact its not something I thought of, ever since crispr broke through to mainstream laymen and scientests have been discussing possible apocolyptic downsides and a dna virus exploiting clumsy gene editing is one of them

Um, okay, but you have an example of a scientist laying out a specific pathway from gene editing to supervirus susceptibility?