Theyre curing blindness with CRISPR.
If this works, were at the start of seeing optometry go out of business.
Kind of fascinating about CRISPR… you only need to have a procedure done once and then its in your genetic code… meaning if you have kids after the procedure their code is also changed. So if you use this to cure your blindness or straighten your teeth your kids will never have to go blind or need braces… CRISPR Assuming it does what its supposed to
That’s pretty cool. I’m 32 and my eyesight is already going to shit. I hope this becomes mainstream by the time my ass is a senior citizen. I could use new eyes lol.
It will probably be mainstream within 5 years (at least the eyesight part of it)
Kinda creepy too if you really think about it. Youre tinkering with your genetic code, the stuff that makes you you. If sci-fi has taught me anything its that these things usually end up going horribly wrong lmao. But I’m all in if it proves to be viable.
I’ve had a few discussions with some of my colleagues/friends at work about this. Theyre not optimistic. They’re worried it’s going to play out like A Brave New World scenario with the divisions between classes being even more unmistakable because the Rich will be the ones to afford it in the beginning. So they’re going to use it to boost their intelligence and then corrupt it and use the corrupted version on everyone else, so the rich stay in charge with their intelligence and everyone else will be genetically programmed to stay dumb. But that’s short sighted and not intelligent at all.
Initially (and for the most part since I’ve heard of this) I have been optimistic, but as we continued to talk I could see their worry and I kind of agreed with them when they first brought up their fears, but the more I thought about it, It doesn’t wholly represent A Brave New World because once the people in Brave New World were modified they were stuck because they didn’t have a way to modify anything other than an embryo. We will have the potential to alter the already born. So, that right there is a major difference between this and that story.
Next, the best thing the Rich (or anybody) can do is enhance their intelligence. because it will be actual intelligence (The ability and capacity for critical thinking and problem solving) not just memorizing a bunch of shit. So, the negative traits that come from lack of intelligence like greed, and fear (fear usually comes from not being educated) will likely go away. The drive for selfish progression will likely go away because it doesn’t take a whole lot of intelligence (Although more than we have as a society right now) to know that that is the slowest form of progress. For example, One guy working on the cure for cancer isn’t nearly as efficient as 10,000 or a million or a planet. We’d start making decisions as an enlightened society for the benefit of all not just a few. Imagine if Bezos, Buffet, and many others were smart enough to use their money for the benefit of humanity rather than just themselves… letting it sit in a bank account? Not smart at all.
And if it works the way it’s supposed to nothing is permanent, so if something goes wrong, you just reset your code to a default mode. No harm no foul.
I think it’s fun to think about it. I think it’s going to fundamentally change the world. I’m hoping for the better (Obviously)
Why do you say that?
Yeah, I’ve read that too
Well, They haven’t necessarily perfected the eye sight gene as far as we know, So there could potentially be mutations still and someone could end up seeing but with with a thumb growing in the middle of their back (At least as I understand it). But I know they have already pretty reliably cured blindness in lab mice. So that in itself is promising.
Well that’s what testing is for. They’re not going to just start right in on humans.
I think that as they continue to play with it they’re gonna get really good at it so we’re gonna see the progress speed up tremendously. Honestly the only thing I can see holding this back is some “who killed the electric car” conspiracy shit. I could see government or big business (Same thing really) coming in and putting a stop to all of this because it’s going to destroy some mega wealthy businesses Tremendously. Optometry is all but dead if this goes through. That’s Doctors, glasses and contacts manufacturers and retailers all out of business. That is a tremendous number of people. And that’s just one sector business when this starts.
Think about the plastic surgery sector… You want bigger tits? Take this injection. No more operations, and they’ll be real, no more silicone. You could just inject yourself at home. Why do you even need a doctor? Or a hospital, or any of the stuff that goes along with it?
It’ll probably go under ground and people will get shady injections from back alleys and 3rd world countries. Unregulated CRISPR! who knows what you’re getting. terrifying.
I think there’d be laws preventing douchebags from enhancing there intelligence. because once that becomes common place it just puts pressure on everyone to perform and the non enhanced could never compete with these omnipotent super intelligent freaks.
im all for superficial enhancements stuff like eye color, hair, skin. even curing genetic defects. but getting a huge leg up on people by enhancing your intelligence its no different than cheating.
Why? Intelligence breeds understanding. If you really understand how something bad hurts those around you, why would you do that thing?
Of course you wouldn’t be able to keep up without the enhancement. (What makes you think you’d have to compete?) So the enhancement would become common place otherwise you’re pretty much useless. Why would you wanna stay dumb?
I’d like to think that extreme intelligence, not in just one area but over all, would end up being benevolent. Changing hair and skin and what not is also cheating and very superficial. Do intelligent people care about that stuff? I think those things would likely be used the least because they’re not important… Jesus, would we be turning ourselves into Vulcans (Spock from Star Trek)
Supposedly there is. That Doctor in China that got three years for using CRISPR on those twin girl embryos used it to boost their intelligence. I guess we’ll have to wait a generation to see if their kids come out looking like Alf. I’d like to think that as they get familiar with using it those kinds of issues would go away. But right now… just cutting and pasting without a whole lot of testing? They could very well be fucked up.
I don’t know if you guys watch Star Trek but there’s an episode where Geordi (the blind dude who wears a visor) is trapped on a planet with a Romulan - the two sides are bitter enemies. They end up bickering about ideologies, the Romulan can’t fathom why Goerdis parents allowed him be born with such a horrible defect.
Geordi the chief engineer of the flagship ultimately earned his position as a blind man. It was that genetic defect that encouraged him to work harder than everyone else. He still had something to offer. Makes you wonder what kind of man Geordi would’ve become if he wore born normal. Would he have been an accomplished man?
So it just raises the question. Should we be playing God? I know we can do it, this CRISPR thing is nothing short of a revolution but no one ever stops to ask if we should do it.
Personally I think some of our imperfections would be a terrible thing to lose. CRISPR is a godsend for people with debilitating defects that would cause them to live a painful shortened life. But should we cure the blind man? The man born with one arm? The man born with dwarfism? The man predisposed to addiction? Who’s to say they don’t have something to offer in their condition?
Good post, sir! Anytime you can bring star trek in you’re gonna have some decent philosophy to talk about.
Ultimately what your post/question boils down to, though, is nature versus nurture. Is geordie this man because he’s blind or is that just his character/spirit/Soul (if You’re so inclined)? How do we know that his defect made him this type of person? Who knows? If he were sighted maybe he would’ve been.a painter inspired by all the colors around him and he’d have been this same person but in the field of Art because he was so amazed at the colors around him.
Maybe Geordie would’ve been way more awesome at engineering if he were sighted and what we are seeing is the stunted version of Geordie because he tires out quicker from having to work harder than everyone else. Did it make him or is it him no matter what? There’s always an obstacle to overcome.
We already do this with modern medicine and plastic surgery. We do this in the courts when we sentence people to death. We play god everyday when we choose to give to the homeless or not on the corner.
This question works for sure in Jurassic Park, because that was highly questionable entertainment (Assuming the premise was real, of course). This is not nearly the same thing. Did anybody stop and think “Should we be using penicillin to cure these sick people?” I would think probably not because it’s literally life and death, not the development of something as trivial like looking at a pet dinosaur (I mean, obviously bringing dinos back wouldn’t be trivial, but what would it do to advance humanity? seems more like a vanity project). I honestly don’t see how CRISPR is potentially anything other than modern day penicillin wrapped up with some plastic surgery (Which I’m convinced will go away once we all get smart). Once the kinks are worked out… why wouldn’t it?
The people who have the condition are the ones to say. “We” don’t get to impose any of this on anyone. WE should cure all of these things if they are requested by the individuals that have them. Forcing someone to live with a reversible/curable condition is nothing short of cruel if we have the means to fix it and it’s wanted fixed by the sufferer.
Geordie adapted with his visor (us playing god because god obviously wanted him blind and we said “no”) but that doesn’t mean he excelled because of his adaption maybe he excelled in spite of it. Not everyone can adapt and not everyone should be forced to if there is an option for “normalcy”
I work with a bunch of smart people. They are not smart in every task that they are assigned despite all having bachelors degrees and some masters degrees or Ph.Ds. Skill levels range 1 to 5 in any topic.
I noticed a trend when doing hands-on workshops with kids that also applied in my work place:
One in 50 can solve the kit of parts problem on their own, and a few never attempt to solve the problem. The rest are split between working together with their friends in a team or asking for the directions/cookbook. Think of that distribution in a bell curve.
In a team of 50 people, about 5 will pull that team to completion. These 5 are the elite of the elite. They are the passionate and driven, the committed doers.
We need all of these people, but they need to be assigned to the tasks were they are level 3-5 skill level. If they want to learn another skill, they need to be mentored.
Not if we have mandatory composting and a trash to gas converter in each home (currently being worked) at some time in the future.
I’m under the impression that with the smart gene switched on we’re all 5s on every topic. Anything we study and have the hunger to study everything
Automation is going to keep us from needing garbagemen and other laborious jobs.
This is why we need the NASA and military budgets to swap. Imagine if NASA had that trillion dollar budget, we’d have colonized the solar system by now and there would be no need to fear overpopulation.
You’re right on. Ive been saying this for years… but you know, communists!!! Theyre everywhere!!! MORE MONEY!!!
This is already 2 years old. It only takes 3 people and an ipad to build these homes.
We already have the capability to 3-D print houses with concrete.
No, even very smart people do dumb things - it’s what makes us human. Flammability in pure O2 environment was one, lack of redundancy in O-rings design another, and yet it’s only foam in the 3rd case. Physics wins every time.
Occasionally Doing dumb things is not the same as being dumb. Being able to learn and more importantly understand how everything connects to each other is smart. Being smart in a specific area in physics or programming doesnt necessarily make you smart. It makes you smart in one area but not over all. I think we see people with a specific set of smart in one area and think genius because thats how we’re socialized. Its gonna change.