In the next week I'll try to get the Categories displayed on the main page, until then, know that this post is in the "Worst... Article... Ever..." file.
Wired Magazine and 'Hit & Miss' are sadly, two synonymous caricatures. On one hand, they publish detailed exposés (sic?) on how Kazaa operates (great story) and the future of Hydrogen-based fuel cells in cars. And on the other, they publish Malthusian/Hobbesian cliche's that somehow just won't die.
Case in point, today's article entitled: Will Genetic Engineering Kill us? . I'm fairly certain that all of the ideas expounded upon in the article could come from Michael Chricton's Terminal Man or some other dystopian plot (Gattaca comes to mind) - so it's highly unoriginal.
Starting off on the wrong foot, Mr. Baard states, "Bioethicists and scientists contemplating the future fear that genetic engineering and other technologies are going to divide human beings into classes that may one day try to destroy one another."
I don't watch much TV, but I'm fairly certain this very scenario is happening on the planet currently. In addition, this has happened for centuries and millennia. Stratifying, ostracizing, discriminating, organizing, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
I suppose we should stop breeding with healthy, intelligent and statuesque partners. After all, our offspring might turn out smarter, healthier and more beautiful than those around them. For shame! I believe the term the author is confusing (via strawman) with genetic engineering is eugenics, similar in style to what Sweden, Germany, Denmark, America and a slew of other countries practiced (sterilization via coercion) during the 20th century.
"Rich, powerful people will use technology to make their kids smarter, they say. The poor and the disenfranchised, meanwhile, will become a kind of subhuman servant class, like the Yahoos in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels."
Go ahead and prevent me from working out daily (I run a 5:45 mile) and eating healthy. Force me to use rusty blades for shaving and some acidic composition for shampoo. Take away my toothbrush and toothpaste. Take away my deodorant and cologne. Burn all of my clean undergarments and seamless shoes. In short, remove anything and everything that benefits my physical appearance in some way.
After all, I might attract a pretty butterfly and create an even prettier caterpillar. It wouldn't be egalitarian right? For shame!
Remember, "rich, powerful people" might send their kids to great non-crappy schools. They might also provide them with wonderful medical coverage and cosmetics to beautify their image. These children in turn will become smarter and take over the planet!
Therefore, I'm expecting each and every one of you to do your part in creating an uglier, smellier and dumber gene pool. Get to work.
Posted by Tim at April 16, 2003 05:35 PM | TrackBackI'm a butterfly in the making ;)
Hehe, you made my day ;)
Posted by: Tim at April 16, 2003 06:43 PMAnd at some point in the near future WIRED will print some psuedo-Extropian article that all these bad things are actually good things. And the month after that they will be bad things again. Back and forth, ad nauseum.
I think the bigger question is: Is WIRED even relevant anymore? How many articles on RIAA, racing technology, and super-athletes can a "tech"-oriented publication print before everyone decides it's not a tech publication anymore? Cripes, they even have a couple pages on skateboards and bikes. The obligatory "lunar commerce" pieces that seems to alternate every other month with the "Mars commerce" pieces.
Since being acquired by Conde Nast WIRED has gone from thought-provoking articles that sell you an idea to selling you consumer products like MP3 players and cell phones.
WIRED isn't tired. It's expired.
Posted by: atom grid at April 16, 2003 10:14 PMHehe, nice tag line. You're probably right about the Lunar/Martian pieces too, though they probably pick numbers out of a hat to see which one starts the year off.
Posted by: Tim at April 17, 2003 02:29 PM