Steve,
I agree with you that the important difference between now and in the past is the speed (and very importantly, the effectiveness) at which genetic changes are introduced into livestock and plants. Sun's Bill Joy is also worrying about these issues today. Did you happen to see his article in Wired last week? Here it is:
wired.com
He also tries not to be labelled a Luddite, as the Wired magazine is read by a lot of nerds and technological dreamers and so Joy attempts to be on guard against being labelled a Luddite. He, of course, realizes how easily his argument can be dismissed by labelling him as such.
I think, however, that it is too late to sound a call of alarm, as the technological imperative is at work and has been since man stood up to walk on two legs rather than four, with the side effect of acquiring in time a larger brain.
Although the harm from genetics is not yet in clear view, I worry about the rapidity at which man introduces genetic changes. A rapid change, of course, often leads to a qualitatively different outcome than a slow change does, as the exhaustion of simple changes leads to compounding that is then cumulative. A stable system under small forcing may be stable, but a system in a metastable state may well
find a new equilibrium position which may not be great for the human kind to contemplate. By the way, it is easier to see the harm done to humans from introduction of hormones to the feed of animals. Any thoughts on this?
Your writing suggests that you might subscribe to the enlightenment idea of the greatest good for greatest number? This notion might lead to the earth being one giant feedlot. If you follow Edward Wilson's logic, we might also end up as a society akin to ants. In the last two sentences I purposely try to impose a couple of visual images and in the latter, one can see us move as robots to complete tasks and in doing so not minding a whit that we are literally walking over each other.
In any case, some food for thought in Bill Joy's article. It and another one in a European magazine prompted me to start reading Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West.
Seppo |
