[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> It's not me it's my genes, or is it my memes?

[kmcleod56@hotmail.com (kmcleod56@hotmail.com by way of Ana Viseu <aviseu@oise.utoronto.ca>)]

The more we seem to advance along the parallel lines of  cyber- and
genetic 
learning, a weird process is suggesting itself to me; a philosophical 
devolution of the human concept from the ‘paragon of animals’ to a
metaphor 
of the computer paradigm. Instead of finding new reforms for our models of 
morality to take—that is, to have our humanity mature at a pace with our
new 
knowledge,  we seem to be internalizing our technology. We speak of 
ourselves as biological machines, wired by DNA, fated by our species’ 
programming. I can’t help feeling that this is a sign of a self-justifying 
excuse for society to apply “medicine” where it sees a need for 
“correction”; eugenics brushes dangerously along the territorial line of  
prescribing “cure” after the conclusion of “diagnosis”. It’s starting to 
sound like we need “fixing”, doesn’t it?
I see this approaching perspective as a greater danger than any amoral 
license born of the “boys will be boys (or all men are dogs)” school. I 
don’t see ourselves as some sort of fleshware lugging around irresistible 
Neanderthal programming, waiting for some eugenics’ version of Prozac to 
make us citizens. Chaos would perhaps be reduced in our daily lives, but
so 
would the growth that comes from imperfection.
Lifestyles and good health has been our alternative to surgery and 
medication; if we apply this holistic outlook to our genetic profiles, we 
may still have the freedom to be responsible for adjusting to this new 
knowledge of ourselves—know who and what you are, and thus take care of 
yourself.
I can’t wait to tell somebody, “You’ve got more memes than brains, buddy!”

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