"Transhumanism" by Francis Fukuyama

[John Candy]

^^ I agree with what Monkeyjunkie is saying...there will and/or indeed HAS come a time when genetic modification of foetus beings will have/has become a massacre of human tissue and that this is the only way to correctly verify whether this science is just......

 

[monkeyjunky]

"I'm not so sure about that one"

I am.
Maybe in 20,000 years or so, we will have acquired the technology to do what you're talking about (i have heard philosophers talk about it too - but it's really just bollocks futurism.
Once we have solved the more pressing problems of the present, then maybe, we will have earned the right to immortality...

 

[yougene]

"I'm not so sure about that one"

I am.
Maybe in 20,000 years or so, we will have acquired the technology to do what you're talking about (i have heard philosophers talk about it too - but it's really just bollocks futurism.
Once we have solved the more pressing problems of the present, then maybe, we will have earned the right to immortality...

We already have the technology, just lack knowledge.
"Synthetic Biology May Spawn Biohackers"

what about gene therapy?

what about stem cells, what do you think those would be used for.


There are ways of modifying genetics without having to implement it on fetus cells. Still there is much to worry about, ethically because as of right now modifying fetus cells would be the easiest way to go.

 

[monkeyjunky]

I fail to see anything in that link that proves that we have the technology to the kind of things that you're talking about.

Gene therapy and stem cells have nothing to do with the problems that we are talking about (although they would obviously be used in the process).

"Sure it can't be done yet, but I don't see any reason to why they wouldn't be able to program cells that can slowly replace the organism with upgraded parts."

Cells already do replace their "parts" and even themselves through mitosis and cell division.
What you are talking about is overcoming the "death gene" - this is a sex linked system of genes that basically cause a domino effect self-destruction of cells throughout the body. This is old age.
A guy in my school wrote an article in the school science quarterly called "The Price we Pay for Sex", which i'll post here once i find it. I can't remember much of the detail of this process, but to override this prcoess would entail a lot more than we can muster at present.

 

[qwe]

"Once we have solved the more pressing problems of the present, then maybe, we will have earned the right to immortality..."

No... That is an argument against going to space, focusing on new technology, etc. the truth is, it can ALWYAS be an argument, the "problems of the present" will either not be solved or new problems will pop up. Europe could have focused on present problems isntead of colonize other areas of the world.

don't use the "lets solve current problems first"
we can work on 2 things at the same time... no reason not to

"earned the right to immortality" if we have the capability to "solve" the pressing problems of the present, we'd have more capability if we had more wisdom, experience, knowledge, understanding, gained by long lives (with technology to keep us young)

 

[monkeyjunky]

"we can work on 2 things at the same time... no reason not to"

I disagree with space travel in its explorative aspirations in that it is unjustly expensive, and has always been more about PR than genuine science.
The fact that such astronomical (sorry) amounts of time and money are spent on these schemes means that less can be diverted to more important matters.

"if we have the capability to "solve" the pressing problems of the present, we'd have more capability if we had more wisdom, experience, knowledge, understanding, gained by long lives (with technology to keep us young)"

this sentence does not make sense; i'm not sure that i understand you correctly, but there is a very likely possibility that the human brain has a "carrying capacity" and that it is hardwired to take in the approximate amount that it is subjected to in the average lifetime.