Purity or Advancement?

That was the question which me and a couple of friends discussed on our way back from polytechnic hunting two days back. It would seem there would be nothing better to do on an hour-long night bus ride. I was half-asleep, while my three other companions were chattering away about something or another. Then suddenly one of them talked about how humans were so-called "messing with life" by doing stuff like cloning and bio-engineering.

That was when I woke up, sober as ever (not really, I felt like I just chugged three bottles of vodka), and when the real discussion started.

One of my christian friends immediately answered by claiming that such practices should be frowned upon, or even out-right banned. He believed humans should stay human, as God had intended; anything which changes us genetically as a species should not be allowed at all. That modifying what we are, even when it's necessary, would be blasphemy.

That had me thinking, what defines us as humans? Is it what we call ourselves to separate us from other beings? Does it mean we have the same and unique pure strand of genetic material always? Or does calling ourselves "human" imply that we have the ability to adapt better than any other species, and can change and save ourselves from anything?

I gave a reply, stating that there is nothing wrong with changing ourselves, for it is the way to adapt to hostile environments. Giving the analogy that future humans who will colonize other planets in the wide reaches of space ultimately will undergo change to get comfy with their new surroundings, I asked, will that make us any less human? If, in the distant future all "humans" grow a third arm, are we still humans? Are we not just humans as a name, but humans as a species that has gone through millennia of changes?

With that, the other three fell silent. Deep thoughts abound.

It really sets you thinking, will there be a day when we are indistinguishable from the present day man, but are still called humans? It seems improbable, but as the saying goes, it's not the fastest or strongest species that is most successful, but rather the one which is most adaptable to change. We may be the ones in the future which will evolve, and ultimately, survive.

After that bit of brainstorming, here's a little something which doesn't require a brain to appreciate...