What is will be...


Religion has been able to slow progress, but reason and truth always win in the end. Science always wins because mankind is pre-programmed to discover and evolve. We simply can't help it. Why is that? Why is it that we continue to push our environment, our bodies, our minds? I propose to you that while we are manipulating our genes to further our welfare, it is actually our genes that are manipulating us.

Whoa!
I believe our own destiny as a species is pre-determined. As you look around you, we have been manipulating our appearance for thousands of years. Tattoos, piercings, hair color, breeding. Whatever the deviation throughout time, it is all a form of evolution of the species. We've been reprogramming ourselves since time-immemorial. And now we sit here, fighting some of the most destructive killers of all time: AIDS, Cancer, MS, etc., and not once do we think that just possibly, these mutations are a cattle prod, pushing us towards a radically altered existence.

Is cancer manipulating us? Are we being pushed towards yet another deviation in our evolution? Think about it. What happens when you cure disease or build resistance to viral infections? Are you creating more resistant viral strains, or are they creating you? Is there a method behind all of this? Is disease the challenge which pushes our scientist to bring us closer to God? Are we violating the time-honored codes of faith, or are we part of a plan?

At the moment we have a debate going on over the stem cell. Is it a human life? Does it have a conscious? Or to borrow a line from Bill Hicks , "you're only a person when you're in my phone book." Personally I find the current pro-life argument absurd. I mean, once we prove that the stem-cell can regenerate life, who will deny Christopher Reeve the ability to walk again? Then where will the argument go? Should we stop women from menstruating to prevent all the horrible destruction of human life?

Genetic modification is the tattoo of the 21st century. What 17 yr. old rave kid won't splice firefly luminance into his genetic code? When high on drugs, who needs a glow stick when just waving your arms and legs is a trip? Genetic mutation is the ultimate form of self expression in the next 100 years. I won't at all be surprised when my child is born with his mothers eyes and my fins.

It sounds shocking, even frightening. Aren't we losing that which makes us human? Well yes and no. We are losing that which we superficially consider human, our appearance, but it doesn't necessarily change who we are as a species, because it doesn't change our nature. The human form has changed over the past 10,000 years, but that hasn't changed humanity. We're still incredibly fucking cruel one moment and gushingly sympathetic and kind the next. While we are shocked and saddened by the destruction of Sept. 11, we've banded together as a society and howled at the moon for the still bleeding heart of every terrorist. President Bush is tender and reasonable one day, and a mad fucking warmonger the next. We've discussed a memorial to those lost, and yet we have a desire to re-build. Is that because we are Americans? No, we're simply human. Progress, progress, progress.

Cloning, sure. Genetics, absolutely. Technology, hell ya (it gave us the iPod). I have a tendency to be philosophical about it all. In my own zen way I believe we should embrace our true nature. I think we should push the envelope, break it, and discover the next barrier. I believe that self imposed societal barriers only serve the ignorant. But in the end, I'm not really worried because it won't really matter. You can't stop progress. And you can thank our own nature for that.

Posted: Thu - September 26, 2002 at 06:55 PM        

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