“Speculative Biology
is concerned with future evolution, alternative evolution, and the SF biology
of other worlds. At the boundary of art and science, these speculations are
grounded firmly in biomechanics, photosynthesis and evolution. This panel introduces
our Speculative Biology track which continues with presentations through the
weekend.” With: Dr Lewis Dartnell (M), Dougal Dixon, C. M. Kosemen, Mr. Gert van Dijk, Darren
Naish
Tough to come up with a subject this AM…but when I reached
this session description, I knew I’d “come home”. Then
I realized that I’d been struggling with a theme these last few years. The
Transhumanist movement appears to insist that human improvement via technology
and bioengineering will end all strife, conflict, and division. Somehow, we’re
supposed to move beyond our petty differences (ESPECIALLY religion) and
transcend ourselves right into something so closely akin to godhood that I
personally see no practical difference.
One series of stories I’ve been writing deals with a dearth
of “alien life” in local space. There are no “intelligences” to form a
Federation with thus far, and no Formics against whom we go to war, so with
worlds only marginally habitable, Humans started adapting themselves.
Initially, the modifications were minor – getting rid of
genetic diseases like Cystic Fibrosis, Scleroderma, and Congenital Heart
Failure. Logical, helpful, tough to argue against.
Once the Marginal Earths were discovered – thousands of
planets with too much CO2, too much oxygen, too much methane, too much
radiation, not enough radiation, too much volcanism, not enough volcanism –
Humans set to work adapting themselves to such environments. Eventually water
worlds came to the fore and Humans were adapted to be aquatic, others were
adapted to live in the atmosphere of Jupiter, Saturn, and some adapted to live
in space.
In the Solar system, one group declared that it was too much.
They took themselves into deep space and were never heard from again. Until
they showed up as technologically advanced, genetic purists. No one who was
less than 65% original Human DNA could be considered Human. The Empire of Man
challenged the original worlds of Humanity who allied themselves into the Confluence.
After a brief war fought to a stalemate, the two sides pulled back, their
territories overlapping on the Brink, worlds where Confluans and Imperials
staked claims but were so harsh or so immense, conflict was minimal.
My stories take place on the Brink, worlds like River,
Sirmiq, and Ahi’ai’honua; this is where most of the conflict happens but it’s
also where the cultures mix.
The Confluence acknowleges absolutely no boundaries. They feel
free to slice and dice the Human genome, using whatever they want to from
animals, plants, and experiment with suppressing certain Human genes – but the
line between Human and alien is blurry and even some in the Confluence wonder
what it is that makes us Human.
The Empire holds a line at minor modifications and using
technology to cross over into harsh environments – but a rigid caste system has
developed and some there wonder if that was what the founders had in mind.
Humans who are obviously Human in every way but have modifications that allow
for breathing in attenuated atmospheres, surviving vacuum accidents and high
pressure environments, or who no longer have vestigial organs or strengthened bones,
seem logical. But it is endoheretical (“Isaac Asimov...in Forward: The Role of
the Heretic...mentioning religious, political, socioeconomic and scientific
heresies...divided scientific heretics into endoheretics (those from within the
scientific community) and exoheretics (those from without).” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy#Non-religious_usage])
and living on the Brink Worlds has created movement toward reuniting Humanity…
At any rate, I first
ran across Dougal Dixon’s book, AFTER MAN: A ZOOLOGY OF THE FUTURE, years ago
when I was teaching a credit recovery science class. It inspired me to try
something “different” and eventually led to my Alien Worlds classes – which I’ve
been teaching for the past 18 years. Since then, I’ve speculated on the biology
of both aliens and Humans extensively. I have a universe where only us and the
plantimal WheetAh exists. Another has Humans as “Vietnamese” or “Korean”
civilian bystanders in an ideological war between the llamoid Yown’Hoo and the
canine Kiiote who find Earth the only local planet on which they can breed and
raise their young.
The fact is that I love biology. I wish I had been there to
listen to the discussion! But will such a program end up creating new "undesireables" and a new underclass?
Program Book: http://www.loncon3.org/documents/ReadMe_LR.pdf
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