eumemics was eugenics probably within years a new type of eugenics will be possible maybe even sooner we are now mapping the human genome we will then start to work on manipulation of that genome using genetic engineering we will be able to insert whatever genes we want no breeding no hybrids etc the ethical question is should we do this should we make a race of disease free long lived arnold schwartzenegger muscled supermen even if we can probably within years it will be possible to disassemble and re assemble our bodies at the molecular level not only will flawless cosmetic surgery be possible but flawless cosmetic psychosurgery what will it be like to store all the prices of shelf priced bar coded goods in your head and catch all the errors they make in the store s favor at safeway what will it be like to mentally edit and spell check your responses to the questions posed by a phone caller selling vacation time share options indeed we are today a nation at risk the threat is not from bad genes but bad memes memes are the basic units of culture as opposed to genes which are the units of genetics we stand on the brink of new meme amplification technologies harmful memes which formerly were restricted in their destructive power will run rampant over the countryside laying waste to the real benefits that future technology has to offer for example jeremy rifkin has been busy trying to whip up emotions against the new genetically engineered tomatoes under development at calgene this guy is inventing harmful memes a virtual memetic typhoid mary we must expand the public health laws to include quarantine of people with harmful memes they should not be allowed to infect other people with their memes against genetically engineered food electromagnetic fields and the space shuttle solid rocket boosters
