Microsoft Word Kurzweil, Ray The Singularity Is Near doc

 
Human Cloning Revisited.
This brings us again to human cloning. I predict that once the technology is perfected, 
neither the acute dilemmas seen by ethicists nor the profound promise heralded by enthusiasts will predominate. So 
what if we have genetic twins separated by one or more generations? Cloning is likely to prove to be like other 
reproductive technologies that were briefly controversial but rapidly accepted. Physical cloning is far different from 
mental cloning, in which a person's entire personality, memory, skills, and history will ultimately be downloaded into a 
different, and most likely more powerful, thinking medium. There's no issue of philosophical identity with genetic 
cloning, since such clones would be different people, even more so than conventional twins are today. 
If we consider the full concept of cloning, from cell to organisms, its benefits have enormous synergy with the 
other revolutions occurring in biology as well as in computer technology. As we learn to understand the genome and 
proteome (the expression of the genome into proteins) of both humans and animals, and as we develop powerful new 
means of harnessing genetic information, cloning provides the means to replicate animals, organs, and cells. And that 
has profound implications for the health and well-being of both ourselves and our evolutionary cousins in the animal 
kingdom. 
N
ED 
L
UDD
:
If everyone can change their genes, then everyone will choose to be "perfect" in every way, so there'll be 
no diversity and excelling will become meaningless. 
R
AY
:
Not exactly. Genes are obviously important, but our nature—skills, knowledge, memory, personality—reflects 
the design information in our genes, as our bodies and brains self-organize through our experience. This is also 
readily evident in our health. I personally have a genetic disposition to type 2 diabetes, having actually been 
diagnosed with that disease more than twenty years ago. But I don't have any indication of diabetes today 
because I've overcome this genetic disposition as a result of reprogramming my biochemistry through lifestyle 
choices such as nutrition, exercise, and aggressive supplementation. With regard to our brains, we all have 
various aptitudes, but our actual talents are a function of what we've learned, developed, and experienced. Our 
genes reflect dispositions only. We can see how this works in the development of the brain. The genes describe 
certain rules and constraints for patterns of interneuronal connections, but the actual connections we have as 
adults are the result of a self-organizing process based on our learning. The final result—who we are—is 
deeply influenced by both nature (genes) and nurture (experience). 
 
So when we gain the opportunity to change our genes as adults, we won't wipe out the influence of our earlier 
genes. Experiences prior to the gene therapy will have been translated through the pretherapy genes, so one's 
character and personality would still be shaped primarily by the original genes. For example, if someone added 
genes for musical aptitude to his brain through gene therapy, he would not suddenly become a music genius. 

---

N
ED
: 
Okay, I understand that designer baby boomers can't get away completely from their predesigner genes, but with 
designer babies they'll have the genes and the time to express them. 
R
AY
:
The "designer baby" revolution is going to be a very slow one; it won't be a significant factor in this century. 
Other revolutions will overtake it. We won't have the technology for designer babies for another ten to twenty