4 ms·
You say that as if this has happened before ("many kinds of these inventions always start as..."), but what conditions have actually had this happen? I can't t
by dotnet00 2y ago
You say that as if this has happened before ("many kinds of these inventions always start as..."), but what conditions have actually had this happen?
I can't think of anything that started as something to help bring people up to a median level, to then end up bringing median people into a super-human level. Everything we've done so far have all been ultimately limited by the human body, so things that bring people up to the median level ultimately have diminishing returns such that they don't benefit median people so much.
- cush 2y agosteroids
- dotnet00 2y agoMost, even in the presented example of the olympics aren't having to compete against those on steroids though?
- radlad 2y agoIt's hard to know how many people are getting away with cheating. I'm more familiar with it in the context of cycling, where performance-enhancing drugs have long been a thorny issue. > In 2004, 4.6% of the anti-doping samples tested were positive, and that is taking into account that there were many dopers who never tested positive. https://lanternerouge.com/2023/03/26/how-clean-is-cycling-analysing-the-anti-doping-fight/ https://lanternerouge.com/2023/03/26/how-clean-is-cycling-an...
- cush 2y agoMost people are competing against people on steroids. They’re incredibly common.
- maratc 2y agoThink of e.g. the development of optics that brought us the eyeglasses first, and the telescopic sight on a sniper rifle second. Now imagine an army of median humans that need to fight the army of genetically-modified humans that can see in the dark.
- Octokiddie 2y agoBreast augmentation could be one case.
- dotnet00 2y agoHaha I guess that might technically fit.
- PebblesRox 2y agoYou could say the same for plastic surgery in general. Techniques developed to restore injured faces (e.g. of soldiers) are now used for cosmetic purposes.
- radlad 2y agoImplants, prosthetics, and exo-skeletons?
- dotnet00 2y agoWhich implants and prosthetics currently exist that are such that a median person would want them and as a result would become super-human?
- radlad 2y agoAs was mentioned in another comment, breast augmentation and other forms of body modification in the context of influencers, broadcasters, actors, models, etc. Prosthetics may not quite be there yet, but do you seriously think they won't get there? Military is actively investing in exoskeleton R&D. Whether it's currently accessible to the median person is sort of besides the point.
- dotnet00 2y agoRe-read my comment, I haven't said anything about the future. My point was just that it seems weird to talk about it as if it has already happened. It might happen in the future, but it's worth considering that a powerful prosthetic limb or exoskeleton that is superior to the biological version in every way makes both the disabled person and the perfectly healthy person equally superhuman.
- radlad 2y agoI re-read your comment, but I still disagree that the evidence provided by myself and others in response, as well as evident near-term future advancements, are irrelevant to the comment you responded to. > a powerful prosthetic limb or exoskeleton that is superior to the biological version in every way makes both the disabled person and the perfectly healthy person equally superhuman. I think I'm not following, or else failing to see the relevance to this comment. This is essentially what the GP was getting at: these advancements can/will lead to anatomically "correct" humans failing to compete.
- jonasdegendt 2y agoSomeone mentioned steroids, but Epogen is another example.