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[Sirus]

Shit like that is why I want to develop methods to basically extract minds from their squishy brain and body.

So we don't have to deal with bullshit like THAT.

Sure, sometimes our robo-bodies will malfunction, but nothing to THAT extreme, and we can always dump the core into a new body if need be. :v

DO IT DESCAN. Our robo-bodies shall explore the stars someday, and I'd like to be there.

[Korbac]

It's estimated that 2500 people have had this disease.

2500...

Don't get me wrong, it's horrifying. But it's also pretty scary not remembering who your grandchildren are on a day - to - day basis and FAR more people have that. 

[SalmonGod]

Shit like that is why I want to develop methods to basically extract minds from their squishy brain and body.

So we don't have to deal with bullshit like THAT.

Sure, sometimes our robo-bodies will malfunction, but nothing to THAT extreme, and we can always dump the core into a new body if need be. :v

DO IT DESCAN. Our robo-bodies shall explore the stars someday, and I'd like to be there.

MY ROBO-BODY IS READY.

[Descan]

Well if I can get into fucking University, that's step one.

:I

I'm HOPING I just dealt with a moron on the phone and can get a true answer.

[Graknorke]

It's estimated that 2500 people have had this disease.

2500...

Don't get me wrong, it's horrifying. But it's also pretty scary not remembering who your grandchildren are on a day - to - day basis and FAR more people have that. 

Mmh. Alzheimers is a pretty big personal concern of mine, because there's a family history. And far more common that only having being had by 2500 out of somewhere in the region of 100000000 people.

[Helgoland]

Plus it's genetic, so it might become fixable rather soon.

[GiglameshDespair]

Plus it's genetic, so it might become fixable rather soon.

I doubt genetic modification to cure diseases will ever become widespread any time soon.Too many people believing it'll lead to eugenics or is tampering in God's domain. It seems that people will have to suffer these diseases, because hitler.

[Descan]

Only way that'll happen is if they get legislative cont-

* Descan looks at the Stem-Cell debate in the U.S.

Well shit.

AT LEAST WE GOT EURO-

* Descan looks at the GMO food's debate in Europe

well we're fucked

[Frumple]

Nah, I can pretty much guarantee you that once the field gets just a little more developed in regards to practical applications a lot of the bullshitting is going to pipe down. Sorts of folks railing against it are borderline notorious for how quickly they change their tune once they're actually able to benefit from whatever they're railing against.

Mind you, they're also borderline notorious for still railing against whatever they've targeted after they benefit from it, but eh. Actions speak louder, etc.

[Descan]

But, Frumple... GMO food has been around for decades, and it's already incredibly practical. Nobody has really piped down. In fact, feels like they've been ramping up in recent years.

[Helgoland]

Never understood the whole 'GMOS ARE POISON!' idea, really. They test for poisons and toxins that may be produced by the modified plant. If they do not detect any, and there are some, they found a whole new one that we never knew about, so they'd take steps to avoid making those poisons again. And said poisons would probably already be being used in foods.

BUT THE EARTH MOTHER IS SACRED! TECHNO-FASCISTS WILL CONTROL OUR MINDS!

Yeah, I never got that either. The 'releasing stuff into the environment' bit, maybe, but we can kinda estimate the risks involved in that.

[SalmonGod]

I don't have a problem with GMO in principle... but it doesn't seem to mix well with intellectual property and profit-seeking motives.

[Frumple]

But, Frumple... GMO food has been around for decades, and it's already incredibly practical. Nobody has really piped down. In fact, feels like they've been ramping up in recent years.

*scratches head* And how has actual implementation and use been going? I ask because the last time I checked, a great deal of the negatives surrounding GMO food are arising because the folks making money off it are doing so well they can throw a ton of weight around.

Part of the ramp up against 'em (them being bastards like Monsanto) is because of the shady crap they're doing on the side, so t'speak, so far as I'm aware largely because they're being emboldened by success

Still, with GMO food stuff there's conceptually other options. Not so much with medical applications. Folks get a lot quieter when going with it is the difference between cousin timmy getting hit with flesh to stone or not.

[Descan]

Well, considering that we'd only be able to feed 4 billion of the current 7 billion people on earth if we turned over like, every possible arable land on Earth to (organic) farming, it's been going pretty well. Even if you just took out GMO and kept all the other efficient farming methods, it'd still be a tough order to feed everyone.

And no, there's two camps to the GMO negatives. One is the people developing/selling them, the other is the actual GM itself. And yes, Monsanto is a dick, though not as bad as some of the worst claims. But for the other, "It's not natural/unsafe/untested/playing-god!", they're both absurd on the face of them (for the unnatural/playing-god bit) and flat-out wrong for the unsafe and untested, since they're like... the most tested god-damn things we have now-adays. 2000 different studies, IIRC the number, on their safety, with no significant numbers of them saying they're bad. (Of course you'll get one or two outlier studies, but the more rigorous ones all agree)

So yeah, making more climate-resistant and more nutrient-rich foods are both excellent, and well-founded (just look at golden rice) implementations of GMO. :v And I GUESS conceptually it can feel like there are other options, since it's such a huge problem, you know, feeding the whole world. But practically, there really isn't the option to NOT use GM.

But average joe-shmo on the street doesn't think in those terms, and all they hear is "Monsanto is evil! GMO is tampering with nature! We're all going to die!" and they think GMO is all evil with no good reason to use it at all. Think it's fucking poison or something, like we're fucking sticking cyanide-producing genes into wheat for the lulz or something.

[Sirus]

Is it wrong of me to point out that we've basically been gene-modding crops since the very first hunter-gatherers began domestication? Sure, it wasnt in a high-tech lab, but for thousands of years we've been breeding plants and animals for things like better yields, faster growing times, etc.