Whats wrong with GATT?
--- Brian D Williams <talon57@well.com> wrote:
>
> From: Damien Broderick <d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au>
>
> >I refuse to be flexible in this case. The damned movie was
> >stupidly wrong-headed to the core, as far as I could make
> out. The
> >notion it argued seemed to be (1) in the near future
> genomic
> >engineering *really does work*, you actually can optimize
> your
> >offspring to produce phenotypically superior beings, but
> (2) if a
> >non-optimized human (limitations emblematized by poor
> vision) is
> >sufficiently motivated, s/he can best one of those damned
> brave
> >new world horrors *by sheer grit*. Yeah, right. Just like
> a house
> >cat can beat a cheetah in a race *given the right
> spiritual
> >attitude*.
>
> I think the point was that you can have a very optimized
> genome,
> but without the proper attitude it's wasted.
>
> He defeated his brother in swimming by sheer force of will,
> his
> brother was unable to comprehend how his genetically
> inferior
> brother was keeping up with him and he suffered the
> consequences.
>
> He got out psyched.
>
> >It was a feel-good crock, despite its nice production
> values and
> >decent acting. It set back the whole public discussion
> precisely
> >because people thought it was saying something sensible
> and humane
> >rather than indulging in Frankensteinian overkill or
> Huxleyan
> >satire - although that's pretty much just what it was
> doing, drat
> >it.
>
> I found it very thought provoking and realistic. I know
> people who
> are proto-GATTs, we used to call them yuppies. Ever been
> inside an
> Arthur Anderson headquarters? It'd pass for GATTACA in a
> minute.
>
>
>
>
> Brian
>
> Member:
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> Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
>
=====
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