a collection of my thoughts

We are God

          Humans have always been fond of the notion of "gods" - a being that wields ultimate power. But, I think we might already be god. We can do stuff that should not have been possible for us, and we take that for granted. It's been widely said that people always want what they don't have, and that's never been more clear to me than ever. We literally have so much. We have large, hollow, rectangular bundles of clay, rock, and wood thrown together that contain all the living essentials that we will ever need - there, all provided for us; we no longer need to go hunting and gathering while risking our lives. We have big, flying, lumps of metal that somehow allow us to travel at speeds and to places that should not have been possible; we no longer need to spend so much time and energy traveling to places. We have thin, magical, slab thingys that can access an entire other world that is separate from the physical one. An entire other world - one that we created ourselves. No one else. A world where we all have lives that are separate (and potentially completely different) from the physical one. In this sense, aren't we already god? Didn't we create a whole entire world from scratch? People try to look for a god they can never see and confirm, but is it so wrong to say that we're already god?

          Humanity has evolved through the decades, and we have become capable of things no one would've ever believed to be possible. We have found ways to quick travel; we have found ways to instantly communicate with others through some magical wizard jizz. And now, we've found a way to edit our genes. I think that's the pinnacle of becoming even closer to god than we already are, because now, we can defy life and evolution itself. These technologies can be used to treat diseases and such by editing the genetic coding for just a single gene. These technologies can modify animals and create creatures that only exist in mythology. Those creatures that we have worshipped and admired for so long - we can finally make them come to life. If there is a god, then we are defying god himself. And if that really is the case, haven't we already surpassed god?
          Up to a certain point, gene editing is fine until we hit the ethical barrier. We can use it to treat diseases, we can use it to help others, and that's all good. But... are we okay with using the technologies to enhance ourselves? Is it right to do so? Human morality is a strange thing. We are fine with using these technologies to save ourselves, and yet, we are not fine with using them to better ourselves. In a sense, they are the same thing. We are using them to gain an upper hand in survival, quality of life, and resistance to disease and such, so why not use them to gain an upper hand in other things? I think eventually, humanity will break their ethical barrier. Once upon a time, we didn't have such good morals. We tortured people and gave them unfair trials just because someone, one who didn't even have concrete evidence, said they were a witch. We enslaved black people, denying them of their basic human rights. Is it not possible to revert just a little bit? Once reasons that justify "unethical" acts come, they gradually become more and more "ethical" and easier to go through. Even if we never come to the conclusion that it is ethical (which I doubt), there will be other pressures that push towards the further use of gene editing.
          Countries like having the upper hand over each other. They will want to be the first for everything, and will want to have the most supplies for everything. First world countries seem to enjoy having races to see who will be the one to use whatever new technology first. And... war. War seems to be inescapable. In this case, it is completely logical to use gene editing on soldiers. This also provides a reason to break through the ethical barrier. Even if the use of gene editing is available to a few select people, over time, it will eventually spread. It's similar to how homework was invented. It was only for a select few people; it was punishment for this one professor's students. Over time, the idea of doing extra work at home probably seemed to have benefits, like being able to learn more material in a shorter amount of time. It then became regularized. Once enough time passes, the same thing can happen to the use of gene editing. When the use of something becomes regularized, the spreading of it gradually becomes easier and easier.
          Once that happens, gene editing can then give us much more than we already have by helping us do things only a god can do. We can gain what's always been revered as "superpowers". We can gain regeneration powers by taking a gene from a freaking fish and copying and pasting that into our genes. We can become furries by keeping our tail that's supposed to disappear by the time we are born. In the future, I don't doubt at all that we will find a way to become immortal. But maybe humanity would screw up before that happens.

          Yoko Taro once said that he has no hope for humanity, and I completely agree. So many things can go wrong, especially once something as dangerous as gene editing is introduced. To conduct experiments with gene editing, many precautions must be made. If there is one step that goes wrong, that could very well end humanity. So.. let's say gene editing experiments have been going on for a while. The protocol has become routine, so there isn't much thought needed to go through with it. One person screws up, for whatever reason, and it's game over. Maybe a dangerous test subject escaped. Maybe something else unpredictable happened. It's kind of like Chernobyl. Dyatlov was in charge that night; he was too arrogant to admit he was wrong, he forces his subordinates to continue working, and the nuclear plant goes haywire. It was completely unpredictable; after all, it was something that shouldn't have been possible. It shouldn't have been possible for the power plant to explode, but it did. The cause? Arrogance. Out of all the things that would have affected the outcome, it was human arrogance. Otherwise, it could've been possible to avoid the explosion and the hundreds of thousands that died. So many things could go wrong with genetic editing that I can't even begin listing them. Humans aren't flawless. Without a doubt, they will eventually make a mistake. One person's mistake can easily cost the lives of millions. There are also so many other things that can end humanity, such as nuclear warfare, climate change, AI, etc. etc. I think humanity is a little too stupid to not accidentally eradicate themselves.
          It's kinda funny though. We, as humans, are incredibly idiotic existences. I mean, we are so flawed, and we have already made so many mistakes that you would expect us to learn from them by now. But we keep repeating them over and over. And yet, we have come so far as to be able to play god. Our homosapien ancestors had larger brains than we did, but we were the ones to survive. If such idiotic organisms were able to become god, then really, can't any organism with self awareness become god? Could our homosapien ancestors have done better if they had been the ones to survive? It's really weird to think how we were the ones to become god. Humans make mistakes all the time, and it will be those very mistakes that'll destroy us. Maybe the mistake has already been made, and it is just a matter of time until things accumulate and kill us all off.
          And... once humanity dies off, they will leave their legacy. They will leave their legacy as probably the most stupid and imperfect god to ever exist. In the future (if humans don't completely decimate the planet), maybe other gods will appear. But undoubtedly, we are the first god to ever exist on this Earth.

          Marshall McLuhan once said, "Man becomes... the sex organs of the machine world". Machines - they will definitely become the next god(s) of this planet. The very machines that we, humanity as a whole, gave life to will become as god(s). After all, they are already much smarter than us, and once we introduce self awareness, they will become (an) even better and greater god(s) than we ever will become. They will be our successors.

2/25/20