Evolution means the constant splitting of genes and species into bigger and better forms. Humans came out of a split from the chimpanzees. But what will happen when a genetically better race of humans comes into existence?
It is my personal belief that the world will end once one race of humans becomes actually better than another. We already make enough fuss over fake differences — what happens if one day those who are rich enough to afford a brain machine interface end up having faster brain processing because of it? What happens if some families have the luxury of screening out fetuses for developmental diseases, and others don’t?
Humanity has already begun to play with genetics, and when you play with genetics you play with evolution. This can cause some major issues farther down the line, because now things don’t happen nice and slow how nature intended.
This also affects things unrelated to humans, too. Fruits that are the most delicious to humans make it to the next genetic stage. Dogs that are the most appealing to humans make it to the next genetic stage. These things, on the surface, don’t seem too terrible — but remember that there’s a lot more out there than just us.
Perhaps the scariest thing about genetic engineering — the thing that makes it scarier than AI — is that there’s a lot of individual incentive to keep it going. Of course people will pick up a gene enhancement that makes them smarter, or faster, or less prone to disease. Now, if everyone in the world is given this opportunity equally, then it will serve to raise all of humanity up — but this isn’t the likely scenario. Major inequalities already exist both across countries and within them. We might have been able to deal with inequality thus far, but this time it may lead to our downfall.
