In science fiction there are many fascinating topics or themes. One of the most interesting topics in my opinion is terraforming. Terraforming means transforming a planet or other bodies to maintain life. Although, this is a hypothetical process, we might be getting closer to terraforming. In the recent years, NASA, has been trying to find a way to terraform Mars. They have been sending Rovers to find more information about the planet. This shows that we might be getting closer to achieving terraforming.

I want to argue why terraforming is important for us, human beings. Terraforming may not be ethical, but we might have to depend on this process in the future as our population is increasing and when we face the issue of overpopulation.

This topic is indeed controversial and debatable among. Elong Musk himself said this is possible and others say it is not possible with the technology we have today and that it is not ethical for us to use planets that is not even ours. However, at the rate technology is increasing, maybe someday in the near future it will be possible, and it will not be just a topic of science fiction. For it not being ethical, I think people will not think of it after it has been done and when they will be able to move in and not worry about overpopulating the place.

Reference:

https://sites.google.com/a/depauw.edu/terraforming-mars/what-is-terraforming

This post talks about what Terraforming is. So, I used it to gain a better understanding.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming

This post talks about how it is not currently possible to terraform Mars with our current technology.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/08/01/mars-terraform-nasa-elon-musk/878404002/

This is post is basically the point of views or argument between Elong Musk and NASA

https://science.howstuffworks.com/terraforming1.htm

This post talks about how terraforming works.

Imagine, a world where animals are given the opportunity to increase their intelligence. Now, this could only be possible if mankind chooses to. If mankind were to choose to raise animal intelligence to a higher level, then that process would be called uplifting Uplifting is the use of technology or artificial intelligence to improve the overall intelligence of a non-human species. Now, the uplifting or the enhancement of animals can be a controversial topic. There are serious debates that argue the ethics, benefits, and consequences.

One of the most common ethical questions that are asked, Is it morally right? Now I would agree that the experimentation on these beautiful creatures may be harmful and could possibly cause deformities or even kill them. But if this process of uplifting could work on animals, maybe it can work on humans too. One of the possible benefits that uplifting can have is by increasing our own intelligence. According to journalist Baggaley, “The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investigating a less direct approach: sending electrical pulses into the body. Research indicates that zapping certain peripheral nerves — which connect the brain and spinal cord to the body — may help people learn skills faster. One of the major consequences that we could face during this process of uplifting is the extinction of animals. The uplifting of animals is not an easy task. It could take more than a thousand trials just to find the correct DNA. Not only that but with animals, their bodies are biologically different. They have a different set of organs from us humans. These animals will suffer and it could cost us in the future. We are better off just leaving animals as they are.

For this sensitive topic, I chose to argue that the uplifting of animals is cruel and not needed. Animals are naturally smart. They are capable of building their own homes, foraging for their own food, and repopulating their own kind. They do not need our help to sustain life. They are better off without our help. So for my research, I will be looking into the consequences of animal enhancement. One of the examples that I will be using is the 2011 film, “Rise of the Planet Apes”. This is a prime example of animal enhancement went wrong. This topic is important because it speaks upon the future. The human race is advancing in both science and technology. We should use this power wisely and only for our benefit. To conclude, as the great Winston Churchill once said, “Where there is great power there is great responsibility, where there is less power there is less responsibility, and where there is no power there can, I think, be no responsibility”.

Annotated Bibliography

• Baggaley, Kate. “These Brain-Boosting Devices Could Give Us Intelligence Superpowers.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 May 2017, www.nbcnews.com/mach/technology/these-brain-boosting-devices-could-give-us-intelligence-superpowers-n755006.

This article proposes the invention of brain-boosting for humans. I used it as a reference to make the point that scientists are looking into ways to improve the overall intelligence of our own brains.

• Dvorsky, George. “The Ethics of Animal Enhancement.” Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 29 July 2011, ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/dvorsky20110729.

In this essay, George Dvorsky explains his position on animal enhancement. He claims that is an ethical imperative. This helped change my opinion on animal uplifting.

• Dvorsky, George. “Regulating Uplift to Prevent Abuse.” Religious Opposition to Cloning, Journal of Evolution and Technology, May 2008, jetpress.org/v18/dvorsky.htm.

In his paper, George Dvorsky, claims that uplifting could be done without the abuse of animals. He makes some good points but there is more information arguing that uplifting can be dangerous to animals.

• Churchill, Winston, “South African Native Raves.” 28 February 1906, The House of Commons, Palace of Westminster, London, UK. Speech.

I used this quote at the end of my paper because I believe that it speaks the truth. Mankind has great amounts of power and we should use it wisely.

Genetic modification of organisms have been around for thousands of years. The early version of genetic modification is through selective breeding by humans to produce organisms with desired traits, such as dogs with stronger sense of smell, flower with brighter colors, etc. However, that is still within the range of the same organism. With the advancement of technologies, humans have start with splicing and mixing the genes of two or more creatures. The manipulation of genes have gone beyond that of animals and plants, recently, there is a Chinese male named He Jiankui who performed a gene surgery on a pair of twin sisters Lulu and Nana so that they are immune to HIV infections.

The appearance of genetically modified humans is quite a heated topic. The splicing of other genes into humans is a huge advancement of human as a species, it can produce healthier and possibly stronger, more intelligent humans. However, like any other appearance of new, unknown topics, the uncertainty invoke feelings of fear within people. There are a lot of movies and tv series about zombie apocalypse involving human manipulation of biology. Furthermore, in the Westworld, Dr. Robert Ford once said that once humans slip out of nature’s law, humans are done for (42:50).

Rangel, Gabriel. (2015, Aug. 9). “From Corgis to Corn: A Brief Look at the Long History of GMO Technology.” http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-of-gmo-technology/

• This text is a brief history of GMOs from the early selective breeding to modern use of technology.

Stein, Rob. (2018, Nov. 26). “Chinese Scientist Says He’s First To Create Genetically Modified Babies Using CRISPR.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/11/26/670752865/chinese-scientist-says-hes-first-to-genetically-edit-babies

• He Jiankui creates twin sisters who are have their genes changed to prevent HIV infections. The two children are currently healthy with their parents, but He faces criticism about the ethnicity of his experiment with human children.

Zimmer, Carl. (2018, Dec. 1). “Genetically Modified People Are Walking Among Us.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/sunday-review/crispr-china-babies-gene-editing.html

• There have been bans and debates over human experiments, but some scientists have turn to underground research. Nowadays some people walking among us are actually like Lulu and Nana created by He, people that have their genes changed.

Science fiction is a genre centered around speculation. It takes facts and opinions from the real world and makes ideas out of them. What interests me the most about these ideas is the nearly non-existent factor of probability, as even the most impossible things have a chance of happening in this genre. In real life, we know that death, a part of life that many people would like to avoid, is an unchangeable fate. Science fiction would challenge the certainty that the fate of death can’t be altered in any way, and find a way for all beings to continue living beyond their maximum lifespan through processes such as rejuvenation or enhancement.

Rejuvenation is the idea that the youth of the body can be restored within elderly people. As people grow older, their bodily functions become more frail, most noticeably on a physical level. Around 6,000 Americans suffer from illnesses caused by age and the idea of returning the few years they spent fighting the disease sounds ideal (Life Extension). But if we’re unable to reverse the abilities of our body to its strongest point than the idea of moving forward hasn’t been ruled out either. Enhancement is the process of surpassing the limits of the human body through technological means. Although enhancement already exists in the form of dealing with missing limbs through the use of prosthesis, which are artificial body parts, visionaries would like to take it a step further to the point of overcoming death through ideas such as replacing the entire human body with an artificial one (Reedy).

Life exists in all beings; whether they’re human, animal, or even the environment around us. Although it’s precious and can offer a lot to enjoy, I can’t agree that life extension is a good idea, on an ethical or practical scale. When humans find a problem they can’t overcome, their first idea is to use technology to solve it but their mistake is viewing “death” as a problem. Life and death define each other like light and darkness, in which one term is rendered meaningless without the other (Rovi Corporation). If our lifespan is a cycle and the end result, death, is taken out of the equation, then what is life headed towards?

If humans continue progressing towards the goal of life extension, it will create a lot of problems for us in the long run. Life is full of temptations which makes it hard to part with. If too many people choose longevity to the point of immortality, the ability to live eternally, then our already filled world will suffer even more from overpopulation. Overpopulation also leads to an increase in resource consumption as seen in Isaac Asimov’s story, “The Last Question”, which in turn, will lead to mass suffering and death instead of just a single death. It’s not just limited to that as longer life will impact us socially and psychologically too (Institute for Ethics). Socially, it’s clear that extending a life can be incredibly valuable which means that it would be even more expensive. This is only depriving the poor from the opportunities of having extra life and even if they took a loan for it, they would be spending it their remaining years in debt. On a psychological scale, longer life means people will simply become bored with the repetitiveness that life has to offer.

Annotated Bibliography

“Human Age-Reversal Research.” LifeExtension.com, www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2015/8/human-age-reversal-research/page-01.

This website is absolutely dedicated to the idea of longevity.  It recommends products pertaining to being healthy and any process that involves reversing age or rejuvenating people are supported in this website.  It also contains research on how young blood donors have reversed the aging of older animals, which shows their optimism at preventing death by aging.

“Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.” Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/print/2320.

This website states multiple arguments for and against the idea of life extension.  Arguments against life extension include how it aligns with the natural law, the effects it has on the mind of people, the negative social repercussions, and the motivations of people who request life extensions.  Arguments supporting life extension consist of the value of life compared to death, the positive social consequences, and legal and ethical rights. It also lists how a person dying at a young age is more tragic than a person dying at an old age so the idea that we have the ability to enable those the opportunity to fully live out their lives isn’t too bizarre.

“Killing Immortality.” Razor Tie Artery Foundation Announce New Joint Venture Recordings | Razor & Tie, Rovi Corporation, web.archive.org/web/20040607195722/http://www.betterhumans.com/Features/Columns/Forward_Thinking/column.aspx?articleID=2002-12-03-4.

This website is about how a bioethicist researcher is completely against the idea of life extension and how it creates social issues, renders life pointless, and challenges religion.  The researcher believes that creating artificial organs or changing our genes are challenging us as humans. The social issues he believes in will result in environmental damage and how only rich people will have the luxury of choosing whether they can live longer or not.  Even now the world’s population is alarmingly large and extending people’s lives will only make it more crowded. He also provides reasons as to why death gives life meaning by saying “life is beautiful because it has an ending.”

Maxmen, Amy. “This Startup Takes Cash from Aging Adults in Exchange for Young People’s Blood.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 13 Jan. 2017, www.technologyreview.com/s/603242/questionable-young-blood-transfusions-offered-in-us-as-anti-aging-remedy/.

This website lists an ethical issue in which it discusses a clinic where adults against aging spend thousand of dollars injecting young people’s blood into their body, as it’s believed younger people’s blood can reverse aging since it worked on mice.  Taking in blood from other people’s bodies are incredibly dangerous just to reduce aging, not to mention this process is incredibly expensive and would be better used on someone who’s actually dying from a disease rather than a person interested in retaining their youth.  There’s too many illnesses to watch out for such as hives, lung injury, and infections.

Reedy, Christianna. “An End to Aging: Can Science Allow Humans to To Become Immortal?” Futurism, Futurism, 3 Mar. 2017, futurism.com/1-evergreen-an-end-to-aging-heres-how-were-fighting-death.

This website details the terms rejuvenation and enhancement, as well as sharing ideas about them.  Some of forms of enhancement include creating an artificial body or creating a chamber for people to store their minds in.  The goal of how far visionaries intend to live for ranges from an extra hundred years to the point of being immortal.

In the world of science fiction, the topic Alternate Future is quite confusing and broad. According to Business Dictionary, Alternate Future is a concept that individuals or more suggests using their foresight and by making their decision they can select from many different possibilities to reach where they want to reach. However, that is still quite vague and broad. There are many ways to describe Alternate Future. For example, it is the same thing as a parallel universe and an Apocalyptic world that is similar to ours. These topics are shown in Doctor Who, The Incredibles, Fallout (Series), and Superman: Red Son. All these are set in either a parallel world or an Apocalyptic world that is similar to ours.

Even though, Alternate Future is broad I want to argue why it is important in our lives. With just the idea of Alternate Future we can create better futures for ourselves. It makes us think of the question “What if?”. It helps us think different ways that leads to more solutions. Alternate Future lets us imagine, gives us creativity. People are thinking all the time. Every time we think of something that we don’t do but can do creates an Alternate Future. So, I want to argue how it is important in our daily lives and how it can help us move toward the future.

Reference:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/alternative-futures.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_(series)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son

https://www.ted.com/talks/anab_jain_why_we_need_to_imagine_different_futures?referrer=playlist-alternate_timelines_of_the_future

https://www.ted.com/talks/nnedi_okorafor_sci_fi_stories_that_imagine_a_future_africa?referrer=playlist-alternate_timelines_of_the_future

Star Wars is a science fiction series that spawned hundreds of books and movies. Created by George Lucas in 1977, it mainly revolves around a fictional ancient religion known as the Force, and how people wield it. The Force is “an energy field that connected everything in the universe. The Force was generated by all living entities, and therefore, resided in all lifeforms” (Wookiepedia). On the other hand, Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion and philosophy that began 2000 years ago. According to historical website Ancient History, Taoism “emphasizes doing what is natural and ‘going with the flow’ in accordance with the Tao (or Dao), a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them” (Ancient History). Both religions actually have many similarities with one another, and it is clear that Star Wars took inspiration from Taoism.

In addition to both the Force and Taoism relying on an invisible energy that connects with the world, its practitioners believe in the idea of evil and good, and the need to balance the two. According to the Tao Te Ching, an important text for Taoism, evil and good are elements that are created equally. For example, the text states, “when people see things as beautiful, ugly is created… When people see things as good, evil is created.” In Taoism, this is reflected with the yin and yang symbol, which includes “two halves that together complete wholeness… Both halves are chasing after each other as they seek a new balance with each other” (Personal Tao). Meanwhile, in the Code of the Jedi order, a set of rules created by practitioners of the Force, it follows a similar philosophical approach to the religion. For example, the text states, “There is no emotion, there is peace… There is no ignorance.” (Wookiepedia).

Taoism, like users of the Force, also believes in the power of telekinesis to move objects. Followers of Taoism believed one could do this through Qigong, “a form of gentle exercise composed of movements that are repeated a number of times, often stretching the body, increasing fluid movement (blood, synovial and lymph) and building awareness of how the body moves through space” (Energy Arts). According to Paul Dong, once one masters this art form, they will become clairvoyant and have the power of telekinesis. This is very similar to the Force because users of it are able to move objects and perceive certain events before they happen.

Broughton, Richard (1991). Parapsychology: the controversial science. New York, [NY]: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-37958-0.

This source is a book that discusses a bit on the concept of Quigong and how users of it are able to become telekinetic. This is important to my comparison of the Force and Taoism.

“Jedi Code.” Wookieepedia, starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jedi_Code.

This discusses an important text for the Force. It contains philosophical beliefs one of the Jedi order must follow. I will use this to compare it to the Tao Te Ching.

Laozi, and Mitchell. Tao Te Ching: a New English Version. Easton Press, 1995.

This discusses an important text for Taoism. It contains philosophical beliefs followers lean towards. I will use this to compare it to Jedi code.

Mark, Emily. “Taoism.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 27 Nov. 2018, www.ancient.eu/Taoism/.

This article discusses the history of the ancient Chinese religion Taoism. It is important to my discussion because I need to tell my audience what the religion is about. In other words, it is a great base to start on argument on.

“The Force.” Wookieepedia, starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Force.

This article discusses the basic information on what the Force actually is. Although it is a fan-based site, it is known to be very reliable, accurate and comprehensive. I will use this article to inform my audience on what the force is defined as.

“Yin Yang – Everything About Yin and Yang & Balancing Life.” Personal Tao, personaltao.com/taoism/what-is-yin-yang

An article that talks about yin and yang, an important aspect of Taoism. I will use it when referencing the history of Taoism.

Technology in the New Oxford American Dictionary is ” the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes…”. For thousands of years, dating back to Paleolithic age men used simple technological tools like axes and shovels for their personal needs like hunting, and farming. Since then technology as evolved and served humanity gratefully. Now in the 21th century, we use cars, planes, boats, trains to travel far distances, we use cell phones and computers to be connected virtually and to be omnipresent, and use other advanced technological tools that give us our daily needs like food, water, clothes, electricity, etc. What technology does is it gives us the ultimate convince in our daily lives. As technology advances, areas of entertainment, like video games, incorporate one type genre: science fiction. Science fiction is speculative fiction that deals with imaginative concepts. One of these concepts that is presented in this genre is advance technology.

There is one particular video games series that is my personal favorite, which is Assassin’s Creed. The whole series is about two ancient societies, Assassins and Templars, who fights for freedom, while the other fights for domination. The descendants of the Assassins enter into the animus, a machine that allows them to hear, see, and feel their ancestors through their genetic memories. The descendants go back to past in the purpose of finding pre-human civilization artifacts and using them to gain an advantage to win the war against the Templars. This sound pretty far-fetched but also very fascinating to incorporate science fiction. The animus is basically a time traveling machine. The creators of Assassin Creed, Ubisoft, has an interesting motto: History is our playground. Though players go back in past, they also experience historical events and meet famous people. This is truly advance technology that can easily tap into your ancestor’s memories and relive their lives. However, I want to focus on the part about tapping in our genetic memory, how it can benefit us.

According to Wikipedia, in a psychology term, genetic memory is a memory present at birth that exist in the absence of sensory experience. For example, if before a mother has her child and she experiences and a traumatic experience her life, its stored in her memories. Then, she has her child and maybe sometime in her child’s life, he/she experiences the same traumatic experience but was more resilient and less affected by that experience. The reason why the child was more resilient was because it’s a natural survival instinct that is caused by the heredity of the mother traumatic experience.  In the virtual world, Ubisoft extrapolated the idea of genetic memories, as the animus could instantly send a person to the past to relive their ancestors lives, especially gaining their skills and abilities.

In an article written by Katherine Gillespie and published by VICE, she interviews Dr. Berit Brogaard, a University of Miami philosopher specializing in the areas of cognitive neuroscience and philosophy of mind. She asks if there were more research in this field of study how could it benefit humans. Brogaard say we as scientist need to see if events in our life can impacts our DNA, and if true, we could tap into it and create a more resilient offspring. “What we need to find out is whether something that occurs during your lifetime can impact or imprint the DNA that’s being passed on. There are certainly some changes to the DNA within our lifetimes—we see how the human body changes in different environments. We know which genes are expressed or locked out. We know that we can impact our DNA for sure, and it would be useful to do that to say, make more resilient offspring.” said Brogaard.

Bibliography:

Gillespie, Katherine. Can We Access the Memories of Our Ancestors through Our DNA. VICE, 2016, www.vice.com/en_au/article/ypv58j/genetic-memory. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

Assassin’s Creed and Genetic Memory: Science Based or Total Fiction. Ancestry.com, 2016, blogs.ancestry.com/cm/assassins-creed-ancestral-memory-science-based-or-total-fiction/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

I used these cites help me to understand the field of genetics and to help understand it form a philosopher and scientist point of view.

Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed. 2007, www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

Assassin’s Creed. Wikipedia, 2007, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

I used these two cites to give the backdrop of the story and the technology that’s used.

 Technology. Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

I used this cite to give the basic technology that humans use in their daily lives.