CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    In Echopraxia, the transhuman pilot repeatedly calls the old guy a “roach”.

    “I’ve told you before, Daniel: roach isn’t an insult. We’re the ones still standing after the mammals build their nukes, we’re the ones with the stripped-down OS’s so damned simple they work under almost any circumstances. We’re the goddamned Kalashnikovs of thinking meat.”

    ― Peter Watts, Echopraxia

    And one of my favorite Heinlein quotes:

    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

    ― Robert A. Heinlein