Quote from: Astargath on April 29, 2018, 04:36:45 PM

Science works, your metaphysical bullshit pseudo science doesn't. Science keeps bringing results meanwhile religion does nothing. Ok, sometimes they try to disrupt science like with stem cells.

Ultimately I think you will be disappointed with your religion. The jury is very much still out on just how well science "works" for humanity. The best that can be said is so far so good and even that is a very utopian conclusion.

The high priests of science in their white coats promise answers but does the emperor have no clothes?

We are a heartbeat away from utterly remaking all of nature twisting it to our whims and fancies wielding a power that vastly exceeds our wisdom.

Gene Drives and the End of Nature
http://www.synbiowatch.org/2016/08/reckless-driving/

Quote

Gene drives force an artificially engineered trait to spread through the natural population until it becomes ubiquitous or crashes that population. The first working gene drives were demonstrated at the end of 2014 using a new gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-CAS9. They work by setting up a genetic enforcement mechanism which copies itself from parent to child, cascading from one generation to the next by sexual reproduction.

Gene drives can entirely re-engineer ecosystems, create fast spreading extinctions, and intervene in living systems at a scale far beyond anything ever imagined. When gene drives are engineered into a fast-reproducing species they could alter their populations within short timeframes, from months to a few years, and rapidly cause extinction. This radical new technology, also called a mutagenic chain reaction, [1] is unlike anything seen before. It combines the extreme genetic engineering of synthetic biology and new gene editing techniques with the idea that humans can and should use such powerful unlimited tools to control nature. Gene drives will change the fundamental relationship between humanity and the natural world forever.

The implications for the environment, food security, peace, and even social stability are significant. Dealing with this run-away technology is already being compared to the challenge of governing nuclear power. [2]

...The ethical, cultural and societal implications of gene drives are as enormous as the ecological consequences. Civil society groups (and even some gene drive researchers) are alarmed by this newfound ability to reshape the natural world. However, such an omnipotent power to control nature is immensely tempting to those who may not be constrained by either common decency or common sense. Gene drive technology is commanding the attention of the worlds most powerful military, agribusiness, and social change organizations. Gene drive technology also appears to be relatively simple and cheap, so it could easily fall into the hands of those, including governments, who might use it as a weapon.

Do the scientists and their committees have everything figured out? Let's see what they have to say.

"We are walking forwards blind. We are opening boxes without thinking about consequences. We are going to fall off the tightrope and lose the trust of public." Gene drive developer Kevin Esvelt, MIT, on the current rising interest in gene drive applications.

Having overstepped our rights and and corrupted/remade nature to suit our whims it is inevitable that we will turn our tools on ourselves.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED HUMANS ARE COMING: U.S. SCIENTISTS JUST BACKED PERMANENT GENE EDITING IN HUMANS
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/02/16/genetically-modified-humans-are-coming-u-s-scientists-just-backed-permanent-gene-editing-in-humans/

Quote

Contributing to one of the most controversial topics to date, a panel of science experts in the U.S. just examined and gave their support for germline editing. This means that in the future, parents will likely be able to tamper with the genetics of their children pre-birth.
...
The panels were made up of experts from two of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the U.S., both of which recommended that germline editing be viewed as a serious option in the future and not be prohibited.

[W]ere going to be creating a world in which the already privileged and affluent can use these high-tech procedures to make children [with] biological advantages, - Marcy Darnovsky from the Center for Genetics and Society

Previously, it was easy for people to say, This isnt possible, so we dont have to think about it much now we can see a path whereby we might be able to do it..." - Richard Hynes MIT researcher , who helped lead the committee

It will start with targeting disease of course. Then it will spread legally or illegally to biological advantage. Parents will soon be faced with the choice of "upgrading" their offspring or condemning them to poverty and the lowest rungs of society.

If we survive long enough a second wave of technological upgrades will follow for ultimately the time will come when even the optimized biological cannot compete with the technological.

Those who believe that "science works" should hope more then most that there is a spiritual future for humanity. Indeed that could be the only possible future as we celebrate our biological demise and upgrade ourselves into extinction.