Billy wrote:
....
Just as long as we don't paint ourselves into a corner.

in an ever-expanding universe there aren't any
corners.

i'm more concerned at present with the "all the
eggs in one basket" trap we are already in. once
we have viable colony ships off towards other stars
(in whatever forms) then things get more interesting.

in terms of diaspora, genetic changes, modifications,
etc. if they are engineered and understood then they
can be reversed. more likely though we'll have a
large number of humanoid variants, some which would
no longer be biologically or socially compatible
(the only thing added there is the biological
incompatibility as it's pretty clear to me that many
cultures are already socially incompatible anyways).

as far as costs/profits/investments/markets/etc.
that's too far afield.

however, to think of it realistically, if you
could modify your germ line to correct an otherwise
constantly bothersome problem of your existing form
that would be one of the most cost-effective
investments in the future health of your decendents
that you could ever make. what would that be worth?
billions? trillions?


songbird