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[kaijyuu]

*stuff*

Ah okay, bringing up similar problems to abortion does make sense as a possible issue.

Anyway, I don't see any argument that would work in the current abortion debate that doesn't work for a fetus in a jar. If it has human rights inside a woman, it has them in a jar. If it doesn't in a woman, it doesn't in a jar. What it's contained in doesn't give (or take away) its value.

I don't see rich people creating clone armies or anything ridiculous like that, though I can see people making more children than they can reasonably support, and honestly that's a problem right now with conventional methods. Seems like a solvable problem though, in both cases.

[ChairmanPoo]

*stuff*

Ah okay, bringing up similar problems to abortion does make sense as a possible issue.

Anyway, I don't see any argument that would work in the current abortion debate that doesn't work for a fetus in a jar. If it has human rights inside a woman, it has them in a jar. If it doesn't in a woman, it doesn't in a jar. What it's contained in doesn't give (or take away) its value.

I don't see rich people creating clone armies or anything ridiculous like that, though I can see people making more children than they can reasonably support, and honestly that's a problem right now with conventional methods. Seems like a solvable problem though, in both cases.

This.

For that matter, the clone army issue becomes moot given that making a death-squad out of an impoverished country's children is perfectly viable nowadays (and in fact standard operating procedure for the average African warlord), and will likely remain far more economical than printing/cloning such an army out of scratch in the foreseeable future.

[wierd]

Like I said-- that's for the future to decide.

We products of the gender war generation have no more business deciding that kind of thing than our great grandparents do deciding what kinds of computers we should have.

We need to respect that. It's a problem that can happen as a result of solving some serious other social problems. The society that will exist in the future is not for us to control. We'll all be old by then.

[SalmonGod]

Like I said-- that's for the future to decide.

We products of the gender war generation have no more business deciding that kind of thing than our great grandparents do deciding what kinds of computers we should have.

We need to respect that. It's a problem that can happen as a result of solving some serious other social problems. The society that will exist in the future is not for us to control. We'll all be old by then.

What if we're old, but also biologically immortal transhumans?

[Flying Dice]

I think the idea is also that you don't have to make one "better" than the other. Sexism just requires ascribing to the idea that sex is a sufficient determinant of the roles somebody will play in society, I think.

'Being male shouldn't hamper my ability to birth children.' -_-

We're working on that one, I think.

On a side note, research has shown that GTA and other such over the top games have surprisingly little effect on behavior of human beings, because they're so over the top. Which, supposedly, makes it harder to relate and adopt said behavior. More realistic depictions can have a far larger influence.

As someone who has grown up killing nigh-infinite amounts of gangbangers, coke smugglers, thugs, cheating spouses, and various other GTA characters, I can tell you that I often laugh at how ridiculous GTA's legal system is. "Oh, we caught him with drugs. SHOOT HIM." "Oh he ran. SHOOT HIM." "Oh, he killed five hundred cops with a missile launcher and a minigun. TRY TO ARREST HIM."

To be fair, the first two bear a loose resemblance to real life. Except that it's more "Oh, we broke into the wrong guy's house without a warrant? SHOOT HIM."

[Mech#4]

Best times were when the police were attacked by NPC's, which then conveyed the felony onto you. I think that more tended to happen in GTA 3.


Or just standing at an intersection and waiting for havoc to be unleased. This works in pretty much any sandbox city game.

[GiglameshDespair]

Why am I vomiting bile? First day back at uni, as well. Damn it.

[scrdest]

Say for instance, a homosexual male couple that desires a baby. The dominant partner provides a sperm sample, the erhm.. supportive?.. partner supplies a tissue sample that has the Y chromosome removed and the X chromosome duplicated, subjected to a hormone bath and cultivated into "Bio ink", and has a full female reproductive system generated artificially to facilitate the gestation.

This procedure is not going to happen, maybe not ever, if someone tries it on animals, but probably never for humans. The first step of that procedure would fuck up the child a lot. Not to mention that as described, the baby would be triploid and thus DoA.

Similar issue arises with clones. Actually for quite similar reasons. Plus, a clone army would require you to have an army already, an army of surrogate mothers, and each clone would have to be born like a plain ol' regular baby, except physiologically fucked up from day zero. RL clones aren't vat-grown, they develop in completely normal uterus of a female of the species they belong to, except the female shares no DNA with the child.

Of course, we were talking artificial uterii, but that in turn would require not just a hormone bath, but carefully monitored mix of hormones, its contents adjusted at least on a daily basis, plus a nutrient mix, PLUS antiviral and antibacterial shielding, so you'd need at least one full-time worker trained in life science. In which case, it's much much simpler, cheaper, more ethical, and effective to just adopt and give up on having your DNA match (especially since it wouldn't anyway).

More science, less sci-fi guys.

[Sappho]

I was supposed to be home from America on Tuesday. Went for 10 days for my sister's wedding. It was hellish and I couldn't wait to get back home. Then the weather exploded and no flights could take off. After an entire day of trying to get through to the airline customer service, I finally got rebooked - for Friday. Overnight flight. Two connections.

I was stuck in America for 4 extra days. I managed to survive. Flight got in yesterday late morning. My suitcase did not.

Went to the luggage counter, filed a claim. They said there was no indication of where my suitcase was, but it was "probably" still in Amsterdam, since 4 or 5 other people on my flight also lost their bags. They said they'd let me know when it was on its way.

In the evening, I called their (NOT 800) number (costing me 30 kc - about $1.50) to ask about the status of my bag. They still hadn't found it. The man said they'd send me a message as soon as it was located.

It has now been over 24 hours and there's still nothing. I'm starting to get worried. All of my clothes were in that suitcase. Everything. I have nothing. I have to go to work tomorrow in the same dirty jeans I wore on my 18-hour trip home. My eczema cream was in there, since they don't let people take anything in their carry on anymore. I had stuck a pile of irreplaceable photos in there as well, figuring they were too heavy to lug in my carry on. Not to even mention all the gifts and things I had bought while in the states. And the dress I wore to my sister's wedding. Most of my clothes were bought in secondhand shops and cannot be replaced. I have severe sensory issues and I can't handle how the vast majority of modern fashions feel on my body. My favorite t-shirts, pants, and almost every pair of socks and underwear I own. It would take years for me to find replacements for these things that didn't trigger anxiety and meltdowns.

I know they will probably find my suitcase. But the more time goes by, the less likely it becomes. I can't afford to keep calling them. I had to miss an extra 4 days of work due to my flight delay. I'm broke.

I can't even eat thanks to the stress and anxiety. I just want to know where my bag is, that I will see it again. I want to scream and cry and throw things. This has been the trip from hell and it JUST WON'T END.

[Helgoland]

More science, less sci-fi guys.

Hmmm... How about GM pigs? They're rather similar to us already, AFAIK - xenotransplantation is parently a field of ongoing research, and focuses on using pigs because of their similar organ size.

An army of clone warriors, born from porcine wombs: The Pink Peril. Sounds like a good B-movie.

[scrdest]

More science, less sci-fi guys.

Hmmm... How about GM pigs? They're rather similar to us already, AFAIK - xenotransplantation is parently a field of ongoing research, and focuses on using pigs because of their similar organ size.

An army of clone warriors, born from porcine wombs: The Pink Peril. Sounds like a good B-movie.

Army of clone warriors with porcine features sounds oddly like Orcs.

[ChairmanPoo]

This procedure is not going to happen, maybe not ever, if someone tries it on animals, but probably never for humans. The first step of that procedure would fuck up the child a lot. Not to mention that as described, the baby would be triploid and thus DoA.

Actually... something of the sort was done in mice four years ago. IIRC the circumstances made direct translation impossible...

[scrdest]

This procedure is not going to happen, maybe not ever, if someone tries it on animals, but probably never for humans. The first step of that procedure would fuck up the child a lot. Not to mention that as described, the baby would be triploid and thus DoA.

Actually... something of the sort was done in mice four years ago. IIRC the circumstances made direct translation impossible...

Triploid mice aren't lethal, triploid humans are.

[10ebbor10]

Well, not always. It's not good for you.

[scrdest]

Well, not always. It's not good for you.

For humans, always. Those organisms in which it isn't lethal are infertile.

Also, are you sure you aren't confusing polyploidy with trisomy?