Im Grunde handelt es sich bei manchen Menschen um eine Genmutation, die es ihnen ermöglicht, genauso effektiv zu sein wie alle anderen. Das ist völlig normal, aber sie brauchen nur 4 Stunden Schlaf pro Tag, im Gegensatz zum Durchschnitt von etwa 8 Stunden. Wie es funktioniert, spielt keine Rolle, es ist ein Ding und es ist genetisch eindeutig identifiziert.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/22/health/short-sleep-gene-wellness-scn/index.html
Meine Frage ist also: Wäre unsere Gesellschaft heute dagegen? Ich bin kein Experte, aber ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass die Genbearbeitung von Menschen weltweit illegal ist? Aber das scheint eine so tolle Sache zu sein, die man künftigen Generationen schenken kann. Warum sollten wir nicht allen 16 % mehr Leben schenken wollen?
Ja, es wird eine Diskussion über „Haben“ und „Haben nicht“, unfaire Vorteilsnahme, GATTACA usw. usw. geben. Ich verstehe. Davon möchte ich vorerst Abstand halten.
Gibt es einen logischen Grund, dies NICHT für alle zu tun? (Abgesehen von Religion, persönlichen Entscheidungen usw.)
Would society be ok with gene editing kids to give them the “short sleep” gene?
byu/crispy88 inFuturology
14 Comments
Well, I’d mainly be concerned that 16% more life just turns into 16% more time at work for no real gain to them.
I hope so, gene editing is the future and it’s only a matter of time before we all get to alter ourselves.
Raising kids that only need 4 hours sleep when I need 8 hours sleep sounds absolutely awful.
It’s like asking if people would object to you doing surgery with a rusty saw. Yes people are going to object.
Current gene editing is cheaper and more readily available than ever before, but it’s not capable of the kind of finesse and accuracy you’d want when operating on humans.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50944461
This wasn’t that long ago.
How do you pick which families get to have these kids?
I don’t know what else this gene does, and how it interacts with other systems in your body. Afaik genes rarely do one thing. I’d wait til we know more, personally.
Ai overview: the “short sleep gene” can potentially affect growth, as chronic sleep deprivation due to this genetic predisposition can lead to reduced production of growth hormone, which is crucial for proper development during childhood and adolescence; meaning individuals with this gene may experience slightly stunted growth if they consistently don’t get enough sleep
Read Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress for a fictional take on this idea.
If we can do that, we might as well find the gene sequences that effect intelligence levels (cognitive, emotional, social) and give them a tweak as well. Otherwise, it’ll just be extra hours to be toxic to strangers on the internet.
Mostly not. There’s a gene editing technique that reduces chances of getting a certain disease. All around the world people oppose it.
Society would accept it, but here in the US it would only be used as an excuse to standardize the 12-hour workday
Kids won’t use those extra 4 hours to learn piano or cure cancer. They’ll use them to scroll TikTok at 3AM while pretending to sleep so you don’t bother them.
Just like how we all said “imagine if school started at 10AM, we’d be so much more productive” and then stayed up even later watching Netflix.
Human nature always finds a way to disappoint our genetic advantages.
But my questions is that when depressed, do these folks sleep like 8 hours every day and lay in bed for 2-3 hours, or are they like me and sleep 12 hours and lay in bed for like 6??
Yeah also the owner class of society would 100% just fill the time with more work, much of which won’t really make the world any better a place, and quite a bit of which will actively make it a worse place that they’ll need to tolerate for even more hours per day.
So maybe not all upsides. In an ideal world sure.