Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
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

I guess I worry more about the species. Remember we just did a big chat
up about Superwheat.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...heat-boosts-cr
ops-30--Creation-new-grain-hailed-biggest-advance-farming-generation.html


The 'superwheat' that boosts crops by 30%: Creation of new grain hailed
as biggest advance in farming in a generation
€ Researchers have cross-bred modern wheat seed with ancient wild
grass
€ Trials proved the 'superwheat' crop is more resilient and disease
resistant
-----

The point was that diversity had been bred out of modern wheat. You
mentioned teosinte, which is a reservoir of genetic tricks for corn. We
need these cave dwellers. We can't throw-away the accumulated wisdom of
4.5 billion years.

i did not nor will i ever say that we should
throw away anything along the lines of any existing
species, but that it is very likely future generations
will spin off from the basic germ line we already
have established much like we have mutations and
selection acting on current species via existing
mechanisms. it's just that we're likely to do it
much faster and with a more directed (i.e. designed)
focus.

there will always be peoples like the Amish who
have no truck with genetic tinkerings directly.


The point I'm trying to make is that the perfect man for today, may not
be the perfect man for tomorrow, and he may not be so good for the day
after that.

the perfect person for what?

the perfect person for space travel may
be different than the perfect person for
gardening in the desert.


songbird