[sudo-discuss] defying biology

[GtwoG PublicOhOne]

YOs-

It would be more impressive if they had defied physics, for example by
exceeding c.

Or if they had cross-bred the outcome of the first experiment, with a
polar bear, and announced the outcome with a press release titled "Lions
and Tigers and Bears, oh my!"

Realistically though, there is no "defying" biology any more than
"defying" chemistry, physics, or maths.  What there is, is humans
experimenting with biology and creating new organisms that haven't
existed before.  That, in and of itself, is interesting as science and
omnious* as technology.

Though, we should encourage the media to not use language that suggests
that scientific accomplishments are in some way supernatural (by which I
mean, "above or outside of nature or empirical methods").  By definition
the only thing that can exist "above" nature would be a deity that can
create an entire universe at will.  And any such entity is also outside
the scope of empirical methods to verify or falsify, which is why
science is necessarily agnostic.

* Omnious: accidental neologism.  I had meant to type "ominous, for both
good and bad," in the sense that our newly gained powers in experimental
biology hold out the hope for new cures for diseases and new weaponized
germs alike.  All the way up the phylogenetic scale, to the prospect of
neo-eugenics (who wouldn't want to tweak their own sperm cells or egg
cells in order to have a kid who is more capable in whatever way?).

But a typo rendered "ominous" as "omnious," which turns out to be
interesting: the root "omni" means "all," thus, something that is
"omnious" has all-encompassing possibilities.  Experimental biology is
in that sense an "omnious" technology.  (And a quick online search turns
up nothing, so apparently I'm the first to coin that term, heh;-)

-G.


=-=-=-=



On 13-05-10-Fri 7:00 PM, Leonid Kozhukh wrote:
> hybrid of a lion & a liger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zmch-qpBu4
>
> -- 
> len
>
> founder, ligertail
> http://ligertail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> sudo-discuss mailing list
> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sudoroom.org/pipermail/sudo-discuss/attachments/20130510/561c4156/attachment.html>