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Koko Ricky

A race of superhumans--will you be among them?

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Augmentation is a buzzword right now, but it will continue to have relevance for many decades to come. In due time, it will be possible to upgrade and customize your body, not with silicon and steel, but with lab-grown biological components that will extend your physical and mental capabilities. A few examples: increased lung capacity, smarter cells and tissue, fast healing wounds, age extension, the ability to toggle appetite, stronger limbs, custom hair and skin, decreased energy consumption, the ability to learn at a hyper-accelerated pace, strong heat/cold resistance, eyes that can magnify images/see in the dark/provide you with "Terminator" style overlays, removable genitalia, telepathy and lizard-like appendages for wall climbing, just to name a few.

Will you be a part of the "augies" or remain a "normie"? How do you feel about the class warfare that will arise as a result? I, for one, am patiently awaiting this technological transcendence and have no qualms augmenting my body in the future, although my girlfriend has requested I don't alter my physical appearance (such as changing my race or becoming super muscular). As for class warfare, I'd have no reason to look down on a "normie," although it will be embarrassing that others will.

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I wouldn't altar my appearance except no facial hair (beards and staches I hate... annoying as hell itchy fucking... Yeah).
I'd go for Lungs, hyper-learn, eyes, stronger limbs, temperature resist and telepathy.

Well, I'd go for those as long as it wouldn't kill me in the process.

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Look, we're at a point where we're just learning about gene therapies to alter our bodies existing genetic flaws (hearing loss ect.). It'll be a while before we have ways of altering genes to change our physical appearance.

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This sounds like something in my spam folder. :-)

Anyway, I got two words for you: side effects (they're a bitch, and just about every prescription drug has a whole list of 'em). I don't have any interest in playing the guinea pig.

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GoatLord said:

Will you be a part of the "augies" or remain a "normie"? How do you feel about the class warfare that will arise as a result?

I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS

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If you ask for any sort of augmentation, you can't do a Jensen impersonation once you get cyberprosthetics after a freak accident.

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Technician: Like all humans, you're programmed to think linearly. Exponential growth of technology (which is well documented and not merely speculation) will bring about these changes quicker than you might imagine. Adding 2 and 2 10 times (linear thinking) will get you a value of 20, but doing it exponentially the same number of times will get you a value of 1024. It's highly likely many of my examples will be consumer products within this century.

hex11: Side effects are likely, but will probably be less prominent as time progresses. I doubt such a hinderance will still be a huge problem as AIs begin (eventually) helping us to solve problems we couldn't solve on our own.

Gez: Don't know what a "Jensen impersonation" is but cyberprosthetics is not what I'm talking about. That is a stepping stone to actual biological replacements, which is what this discussion is about.

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I also hope to see some of the things you wish for, but you phrase them in such a cringe-inducing way it makes me want to disagree with you. It's as if you deliberately ignore what's already going on today so you can have this perfect fantasy with a stark before and after contrast; and your idea of a perfect fantasy apparently involves racist undertones, conflict, and contempt for your own body. I'd prefer to improve what I have than to replace it, and I'd hope having more comfort and abilities in their lives would bring people together rather than against each other.

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GoatLord said:

cyberprosthetics is not what I'm talking about. That is a stepping stone to actual biological replacements, which is what this discussion is about.

You're asking for a serious discussion but there's not much to discuss. We're such a long way from achieving any of the things you're fantasising over that the stepping stones are all we really have to talk about.

Besides, prosthetics have come a long way. I'm guessing mind-controlled robotic hands like the one in this video will be affordable for the average person long before we have lab-grown body replacements that turn us into superhumans*. Bionic legs are impressive pieces of equipment too, even if climbing stairs with them seems to be a major problem for the engineers.

*Maybe we'll have Terminator-like cybernetic body parts which can punch through walls and allow us to fire hand-held miniguns long before cloned body parts, too. But what do I know?

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Personally, I'd be willing to leave things like appearance and abilities alone, with one exception. That exception: I'd love to be able to cast torch-style beam of light from either my eyes or some specially placed organ/addition that lines up with my line of sight, that I can turn on or off at will. Sounds relatively simple, but being able to light up any dark place I like just seems like such a useful and non-intrusive ability that it would be a hell of an addition.

Once that's in I'd be willing to consider other options :P

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Phml said:

I also hope to see some of the things you wish for, but you phrase them in such a cringe-inducing way it makes me want to disagree with you. It's as if you deliberately ignore what's already going on today so you can have this perfect fantasy with a stark before and after contrast; and your idea of a perfect fantasy apparently involves racist undertones, conflict, and contempt for your own body. I'd prefer to improve what I have than to replace it, and I'd hope having more comfort and abilities in their lives would bring people together rather than against each other.


I don't understand your reasoning. I'm not talking about a "stark before and after contrast." I'm choosing to ignore the intermediate steps because I'm interested in discussing the aftermath: Augmentation becoming a consumer product. The racist/conflicting overtones are unavoidable, and I already mentioned that I wouldn't look down on "normies," so why even bring it up? And of course I have contempt for my own body. Having genitals and limited mental/physical abilities is not ideal to me.

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Phobus said:

I'd love to be able to cast torch-style beam of light from either my eyes...

It'll never happen. In the future trained marines won't even be able to figure out how to attach a light to their gun without help, much less have the ability to shine a beam of light from their head. Mind you, maybe they can't figure out the gun thing because they are so used to people having head-lights. :/

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What he's talking about doesn't defy the laws of physics, so "it'll never happen" is not a very good conclusion to make.

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GoatLord said:

What he's talking about doesn't defy the laws of physics, so "it'll never happen" is not a very good conclusion to make.

I think Enjay was making a jab at the flashlight mechanic in Doom 3.

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GoatLord said:

Having genitals is not ideal to me.

fraggle said:

I'm sold.

What's wrong with having genitals? Only disadvantage I can think of is being vulnerable to being kicked in the nuts.

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Sodaholic said:

What's wrong with having genitals? Only disadvantage I can think of is being vulnerable to being kicked in the nuts.

CIS SCUM. Think of peace.

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GoatLord said:
strong heat/cold resistance

Hey, have you heard of Wim Hof? For quick reference, he can adjust to extreme coldness just only by power of will. I think that's already achieved. :P

Anyway, if there are some experiments for enhancing or rejuvenating your hearing to one or both to your ears, well I'm all ears for that kind of opportunity.
Although you can dismiss some shitjobs by only saying "But I'm half deaf! It's on the records even." :D

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CorSair said:

Anyway, if there are some experiments for enhancing or rejuvenating your hearing to one or both to your ears, well I'm all ears for that kind of opportunity.

Yes, but it's a slow process. There have been big advances with stem-cells restoration in gerbils as of recently, but it's predicted to be at least another fifteen years before clinical trials. Also gene therapy that targets the recessive gene that prohibits hair cell regeneration in mammals is also taking shape, but again, slowly. The funding for tinnitus/hearing restoration is low, but there has been more progress in these last couple years than I can every remember, so the wheels are beginning to take speed.

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hex11 said:

What you want is a headband with LED light on it. :-)

Pretty much, but to then have it built-in and have me as the power source ;)

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Technician said:

Yes, but it's a slow process. There have been big advances with stem-cells restoration in gerbils as of recently, but it's predicted to be at least another fifteen years before clinical trials. Also gene therapy that targets the recessive gene that prohibits hair cell regeneration in mammals is also taking shape, but again, slowly. The funding for tinnitus/hearing restoration is low, but there has been more progress in these last couple years than I can every remember, so the wheels are beginning to take speed.

huh. Seems I have been missing few articles about this then. :/

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GoatLord said:

Augmentation is a buzzword right now


Really? Never heard of it in that context before (except maybe penile augmentation scames). Either I'm so out of the loop, or this is a FORCED and PAINFUL attempt at trying to pass it as one.

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Sodaholic said:

What's wrong with having genitals? Only disadvantage I can think of is being vulnerable to being kicked in the nuts.

I was being sarcastic. This whole thread is laughably absurd.

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Sodaholic said:

What's wrong with having genitals? Only disadvantage I can think of is being vulnerable to being kicked in the nuts.


Depends on your point of view, in my opinion breeding through "natural" means is unnecessary and lust is a useless emotion.

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