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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

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2874295 No.2874295 [Reply] [Original]

>Playing God
Who here hates that argument? Every time I mention genetic engineering or cybernetics, I get this response. Or the equally retarded response, "It isn't natural!" When I posted the Craig Ventor story about a synthetic cell, it was flooded with Luddites. We shouldn't let the distinction between natural and synthetic hold us back. Technology is fundamental part of who we are as humans. nature,, or "God," they don't care about us. We need to manipulate nature, not serve it blindly. No realm of human knowledge should be off-limits. We will use science and technology to transcend the limits of our natural bodies. With genetics and cybernetics, we can fashion ourselves in our own image, not the arbitrary one given to us at birth. Evolution and nature will be under our control. Transhumanism is the only way forward. I don't want to "play" God, I want to become God.

Long live the new flesh.

>> No.2874305

100% Agree OP, but the vast majority of the earth's population still beleives in morals.

>> No.2874308

Well, if God didn't want us to play like him, he wouldn't make genetic engineering and synthesizing natural stuffs possible and be done by humans. It's kinda ridiculous.

>> No.2874309

I second the idea.

Here here!

*raises coffee mug*

>> No.2874311

> yfw when genetic manipulation has already nearly starved us all

>> No.2874313

>>2874308
Another thing, I'm just assuming here that if God's real.

Humans' scientific progress shouldn't be halted by a ridiculous things.

>> No.2874320

I kind of agree. aslong as my limbs look human or can be switched out for human looking ones (some sort of synthetic skin ala terminator or such) i'm up for it. its a personal choice not an ethical one. if a man who can't walk wants new legs. who are we to stop them?

>> No.2874322

Damn right.

>> No.2874326

>>2874295
Treat godfags like animals. You can't be really angry on dog when it barks on the Moon - it's an animal, it can't help itself. Same with godfags. Simple ignorance will do the job. They are able to learn in some cases but are clearly unable to think independently. They think what they are told to think by god (real prophets or other lunatics). Since last god's message was according to them at 0A.D. (the Christ apparently) and are rejecting any other opinions hence they are predetermined to be forever mentally bond to year 0A.D with very little chance of progress.

It's a bit like with event horizons once a person becomes godfag it is practically impossible (in fact even pointless) to try to humanise it. In the same way as you can't make human out of dog you can't make human out of godfag either.

Also in the same way as you can teach dog to fetch you can teach godfags to act like an automatic bump (let them troll) - which by default attracts additional viewers to your thread and if the OP's post is well written then it will almost inevitably get attention to the tread. this is valid on 4chan in other forums this strategy might not work.

>> No.2874332

DEATH TO VIDEODROME
LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH

>> No.2874339

>>2874311
>yfw genetic manipulation is not the cause rather distribution of resources since the people who get the resources are walking the line of morbid obesity

>> No.2874341

"Unnatural" in this case is an inarticulate stand-in for "I don't think those gains are compatible with what I like about humans as they've been for thousands of years."

>> No.2874343

AGREEING WITH OP FOR A BETTER TOMORROW!

>> No.2874354

If you think humanity is ready for the maturity needed to handle this type of responsibility, I think you need to attend a few toddler beauty pageants in the deep south.

>> No.2874360

>>2874354
With great responsibility comes great maturization!

>> No.2874365

>>2874354
Those beauty pageant mommies couldn't SCIENCE if their life depended on it. The people who can SCIENCE are plenty mature

>> No.2874367
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2874367

How do you guys think we could get the masses interested in biotechnology? I mean, most people like computers or at least have one, but the idea of putting a computer inside of them is gross for some reason.

On a pop culture note, I'm glad that a movie like Tron: Legacy did fairly well in theaters. It's nice to see a movie about technology that's optimistic, rather than saying all robots are evil. I was surprised when they brought in the ISO's, which had evolved completely naturally inside a program.

>> No.2874373

>>2874367
Their fear stems from lack of understanding.
Education is the key

>> No.2874371

>>2874354
The only thing worse than a luddite is a hipster luddite.

>> No.2874377
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2874377

I AM NOT A MACHINE!

>> No.2874379

>>2874360

For the few people who don't seem responsible enough, we could always corral them and ship them off to camps where they can concentrate on being more mature... has anyone ever tried to send large groups of people to camps for concentration to change their mind and habits?

>> No.2874380

>>2874373
Yeah, this guy's correct. Generally, things that humans don't understand are things he's afraid of, or at least he wouldn't bother touching.

>> No.2874381
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2874381

The distinction is completely arbitrary OP, I agree, but I've given up all hope on ever swaying these people. We'll either have to form our own society or deal with it.jpg.

>> No.2874387
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2874387

>>2874377
That scene was really sad for a video game, especially contrasting with JC's emotionless voice.

>> No.2874391

I might be hearing some communist society for transhumanityfags soon in this thread.

>> No.2874393

>>2874373

Also, I am sure their experience with technology doesn't help... nobody wants their visual cortex to blue screen after a firmware update and spend the next week on technical support with a company that already has their money and couldn't give a shit.

>> No.2874400

>>2874387
I've always felt Gunther was the most tragic figure in Deus Ex.

>> No.2874413
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2874413

>> No.2874421

>Playing God
>Who here hates that argument?
I don't hate the whole thing but I told this people "tell a diabetic taking insulin thta his doctor, the pharmaceutical company et all are playing god and see what you get".

The argument dies right there.

>> No.2874422

>>2874421
>these people.
Fixed.

>> No.2874432

>>2874421
That right, the hypocrites will be dumbfounded probably. Or they persistently make another argument in favor of their beliefs.

>> No.2874446

>>2874400

I DO NOT MOVE OUT OF ZE VAY

Yeah, I felt sorry for him. Not so much Agent Navarra, I splattered her along the wall.

Seriously, though, the Playing God argument is old and silly. We had people saying that with "test tube babies", and now no-one bats an eye at the term in-vitro fertilization. Familiarity has a way of breeding out contempt for technology.

>> No.2874452

>>2874432
that's
fixed lol

>> No.2874457

The cloning soul conundrum scares the religious authority. I think some of the fear comes from this.
I scoff at the Luddites who are happy to eat organic food created in the lab via Precision Breeding, Mutagenesis, Marker Assisted Breeding...

>> No.2874464

>>2874422
>but i told these people
>fixed?
>but i tell these people
Fixed.

>> No.2874466

>>2874457
>luddite fallacy
>having anything to do with breeding
No.

>> No.2874470
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2874470

Fire is unnatural.

>> No.2874483
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2874483

>>2874470
>dinosaurs in the background
...must....not...rage...

>> No.2874488

Lol @ morons who think people were better off in the stone ages.

>> No.2874489

>>2874367
Personally I don't see the difference between having a gps implanted in my brain and holding one in my hand.

Anyway, I think what bothers people is the whole equal before god thing. Not in the religious sense, I mean we're used to everyone being the same. What if only rich people get augmentations because they're the only ones that can afford it? And what defines "human" when we're genetically engineered to hell and back and everyone is going in different directions?

The Combine anyone?

>> No.2874504

>>2874489
I don't think you get what really bothers people about this, what's scary is the cracking of the human mind and potential military monopolization on augments.

If they say put backdoors in civilian augments you'll forever be the governments bitch and if you have a gps in your brain that's giving off a signal it's a fuckton harder to remove then say dropping the gps in your hand.

It's forcing everyone in the grid except now it's a super grid and you can't fight back because you're powered augments have built-in kryptonite or are simply inferior to government mandated ones.

>> No.2874508

Eat crops created in a labs via mutagenesis and sold as organic.
Protest outside labs and rip up crops because they think GM is unnatural.

>> No.2874525

>>2874489

Also its one thing when your handheld gps goes haywire and makes your car's cigarette lighter stop working... its another thing if it takes out your motor skills or control of bowel movements.

>> No.2874559

>>2874504
The military doesn't have a monopoly on cool things.
It's far more likely that augmentations would be produced and sold in the same way the computers are now, except ofcourse the whole surgery thing (but that could be avoided by having adapters and plugs installed in your body so you could pick and switch whenever you felt like it rather than hard-wiring the augmentations in).

>> No.2874565

>>2874525
I very much doubt the sensory input and bowel control parts of your brain are the same.

>> No.2874599

>>2874559
>military doesn't have a monopoly on cool things
When's the last time you went to the tank dealership?
Or owned a fully automatic weapon?
Did you pick up some c4 too?
Maybe a predator drone for the lulz?

>> No.2874609

>>2874599
Because augmentations are all about killing things, right?
I for one have zero interest in turning myself into an android of death.
The cooler applications of cybernetics are non-violent. Stuff like brain computer interfaces and what not

>> No.2874620

>>2874559

>The military doesn't have a monopoly on cool things.

I completely disagree. Even all the stuff they own that isn't designed for killing is completely state of the art.

>> No.2874626

>>2874620
Yeah, but that stuff trickles down into main stream society eventually.
The internet was invented by the US military after all

>> No.2874842
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2874842

>>2874525
Computers can get messed up, sure, but biology's not much better. The advantage of being a cyborg is no more disease. We don't have to worry about a cure for cancer or AIDS, or any infectious disease.

>> No.2874848
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2874848

>>2874295

Only someone capable of becoming a God...

>> No.2874853
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2874853

>>2874848
...deserves the right to be one.

>> No.2874856

>>2874842
And get a virus that instantly brainwashes you...

>> No.2874878
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2874878

>>2874856
>virus
>brainwash
>virus

>> No.2874892

>>2874878
>cyborg
>without disease
Can't possibly have organic parts