Scientists Embark on 'Brave New World'
"More than 3.5 billion years after nature transformed non-living matter into living things, populating Earth with a cornucopia of animals and plants, scientists say they are finally ready to try their hand at creating life."
"If they succeed, humanity will enter a new age of "living technology . . .
Scientists eagerly talk of a new world of ultra-small living machines."
"But the first artificial life also is likely to shock people's religious and cultural belief systems. People from many different backgrounds have special views about what life is: how it originates, the special sanctity it has, the special dignity it deserves," Bedau said. "The ability to make new forms of life will perturb all of that. We need to think through the implications and how we are going to react to them."
"I will ascend to the heavens," said one researcher, "I will be like the Most High...," apparently referring to Isaiah 14:14. Said another, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves!"
Okay, I made that last part up. This endeavor is not as scary as it is simply laughable.
# posted by Jamie : 7:03 AM
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