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But then we go full GATTACA.

by jychang 12y ago

blueskin_ 12y ago
AKA Affirmative Action Is Good: The Movie. We already bar people with heart defects from participating in space programs.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  I thought the whole point was that the main character got into space on merit, even though all the fancy genetic screening predicted that he wouldn't be able to. The human spirit of an individual triumphs over a short sighted and capricious society. You mention the heart defect. In the movie, the heart defect is only genetically potential, it is implied that if the character had it they would be dead before the events of the film.
  - adrianN 12y ago
    He does cheat on both the medical and the physical exams.
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      Sure, I guess I would refine it and say that he made it into space based on some standard of merit that I was defining, not based on the one the short sighted and capricious society defined.
Filligree 12y ago
You don't like that outcome? Meh. Neither does anyone else, and it won't happen by itself. If GATTACA was the cost of everyone being healthy, I might take it, but it won't be. We get the world we want, by and large.
- philbarr 12y ago
  > We get the world we want, by and large. Hmm, not sure about that. The rich get the world they want, by and large.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  There are a lot of undesirable scenarios where 'everyone is healthy'.
sampo 12y ago
> But then we go full GATTACA. Gattaca is just a scifi movie, not particularly good at science realism. We should not take guidelines for Artificial Intelligence research from the Terminator movies, and we should not take genetics guidelines from Gattaca.
afafsd 12y ago
So? The world of GATTACA seemed pretty awesome. Everyone was smart and fit and healthy and good-looking. In fact, life was so perfect that the writers had to postulate the existence of non-genetically-engineered people in order to have any drama at all. "Wouldn't it suck if you were born into this society without any genetic enhancement?" the movie asks. And the answer is: yeah, so you should genetically engineer your children.

But then we go full GATTACA.

by jychang 12y ago

But then we go full GATTACA.

AKA Affirmative Action Is Good: The Movie. We already bar people with heart defects from participating in space programs.

maxerickson 12y ago
I thought the whole point was that the main character got into space on merit, even though all the fancy genetic screening predicted that he wouldn't be able to. The human spirit of an individual triumphs over a short sighted and capricious society. You mention the heart defect. In the movie, the heart defect is only genetically potential, it is implied that if the character had it they would be dead before the events of the film.
- adrianN 12y ago
  He does cheat on both the medical and the physical exams.
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Sure, I guess I would refine it and say that he made it into space based on some standard of merit that I was defining, not based on the one the short sighted and capricious society defined.

Filligree 12y ago

You don't like that outcome? Meh. Neither does anyone else, and it won't happen by itself. If GATTACA was the cost of everyone being healthy, I might take it, but it won't be. We get the world we want, by and large.

philbarr 12y ago
> We get the world we want, by and large. Hmm, not sure about that. The rich get the world they want, by and large.
jacquesm 12y ago
There are a lot of undesirable scenarios where 'everyone is healthy'.

sampo 12y ago

> But then we go full GATTACA. Gattaca is just a scifi movie, not particularly good at science realism. We should not take guidelines for Artificial Intelligence research from the Terminator movies, and we should not take genetics guidelines from Gattaca.

afafsd 12y ago

So? The world of GATTACA seemed pretty awesome. Everyone was smart and fit and healthy and good-looking. In fact, life was so perfect that the writers had to postulate the existence of non-genetically-engineered people in order to have any drama at all. "Wouldn't it suck if you were born into this society without any genetic enhancement?" the movie asks. And the answer is: yeah, so you should genetically engineer your children.