Strider

This is going nowhere. I'm going to have to reintroduce myself over and over as people wake up...Perhaps the woman in the armor was right... Edmond sighs and begins to search his pockets for supplies. Money. That may be utterly useless depending on where we are...A pen, and two napkins. Maybe useful? An I.D. Another useless item.

"All right...ma'am." (To Theodore Murphy) "I'm Edmond Cooper. And you?"

Okay... "I think...that if you don't wish to 'get chummy', this is still important for any future plans. I was, and I assume you were, called here, probably for the same reasons. We need to cooperate. This is reasonable, isn't it?" Edmond finishs nervously, waiting for a response from this surly lady. She seems to be wearing plate armor. That hasn't been used for centuries. It's certainly odd. Is it an antique?

So, no one knows exactly why they're here. So it's unlikely that they're a specific danger to me. Edmond ceases his pacing, and follows the group. "I think it would be in our best interests to have a full set of introductions. We can then discuss how we came to be here. I think, however, that we can delay any expedition out of our safe haven." "I'm Edmond Cooper. I'm an engineer with the Gliesian Military Special Ops."

"Hmm. Well, I can't really help with that. I certainly don't want you throwing my welder." Edmond smiles and begins to explore his surroundings in a bit more detail.

"Ah. Do you need some help? I... yeah I do have it. I have a welder. It might be able to cut that thing out." Edmond stops for a moment. "Actually, it might damage the gear." He offers his arc welder to Pluck, along with the back-mounted power source.

Edmond moves along the cliff face until he is about 10 feet away from Pluck. "Pluck? I'm Edmond Cooper. It's a pleasure to meet you...and your parrot." He pauses for a moment. "How did you come to be here?"

On seeing another human rising, Edmond asked "You sir! With the parrot! Can you understand me?"

Agh...my back...we must be on a mission. It seems we made it through another night...poor Sylvester... this has been really rough on him. Edmond Cooper opened his eyes, and blinked twice. Where are we again? He closed his eyes again. He had no recollection of the place in which he had awoken. He had not gone to sleep surrounded by cliffs. He had drifted off the previous night to the chatter of machine-gun fire, in the midst of an intractable forest with his comrades. A memory drifted across his mind. He had experienced a strange dream in the night. What was it? A call for help? There were reasons...right? I agreed to something. It all made sense then...I just can't remember. Someone needed help. That was all he knew. He opened his eyes once more, and began to scan the cliffs. Bare, probably granite? It's almost a circle... He then shifted his attention to the ground, and saw numerous...people all in various states of waking up. For a brief moment, he wondered if it might be his comrades. No. They aren't. They must also have arrived in the same way which I did. He was still unsure what to do, so he slowly crawled over to one of the cliffs. He sat, back against the wall, waiting, and observing.

I'm not even sure what's happening anymore... "footsteps" again...

Yeah, I'm no fan of the idea either, partly because the process of getting there would be difficult and dangerous, while the benefits are debatable. But a quick question: For all the decrease in privacy which the internet has brought, would you rather that it did not exist?

So what's your opinion on the society as a whole? On the basis of comfort of living, was society better off? Do you think that eugenics would increase discrimination, or simply morph it into a different form, in which case the benefits could outweigh the costs?

I have watched it. However, it was so long ago, that I only really remember the basic plot. I can't recall the actual viewpoint put forth in the movie, and their methods of making points.

For the sake of argument, I'll say that eugenics and genetic engineering are not morally reprehensible. This is skipping over that fact that it will be very difficult to get to a point where such procedure can be performed safely, and such progress would probably require human experimentation, which I'm not comfortable with. The idea of using genetic or artificial selection on humans is not new. For years people have considered using manipulation of the human genome to eliminate or prevent diseases and conditions, and to elevate or augment the human faculties in some manner. Both have the goal of increasing the standards of living of the people affected. No one can argue that this is not an important goal. However, there is dispute over the ethics of these processes. Genetic engineering for the purpose of preventing disease is certainly justifiable. There are very few arguments against this goal, except those of faith. The idea that preventing a disease or mutation in a person is 'playing god' makes little sense. If it is wrong to prevent diseases from birth, on the principle that "it was meant to be", or that we are "playing god", than it cannot be right to save or cure a person of a natural affliction at any point in their life, because, again, "it was meant to be". This argument can also be countered by the story of the man/woman in the flood. The conclusion that genetic engineering or eugenics should not be practiced because it is "playing god" is clearly erroneous. Another, more controversial purpose of genetic engineering is personal enhancement. This would be any case in which genetic manipulation is used to change a child for reasons such as physical strength, beauty, or intelligence. Some might argue against this on the principle that it is wrong to change the physical traits of a child, when they have no input, and cannot give their consent on the matter. Children however, do not choose their parents. They are subject to the whims of pure chance on the matters of their location, physical health, intelligence, social class, and a number of other parameters. Genetic changes enacted by parents amount to little in this vast sea of luck. "Genetic engineering and eugenics have been used for evil, and should not be used" is another argument. "The methods used in Nazi Germany, Japan, and even the United States are reasons enough to abandon this pursuit." First, the use of a procedure or object does not determine its nature. In fact the fear of earlier atrocities in the public mind might in fact provide excellent incentive to strictly control future programs of this kind. If a public program were to use abhorrent methods, the public would immediately cry for it to be shut down. In the case of a private enterprise, the public would be ignorant of the experiments, in which case it would be meaningless to debate the ethics of such a program. A final argument against genetic engineering and eugenics is that these methods of human enhancement will discriminate against poorer people. It seems very likely that the richest people would have the most access to an expensive procedure. But what would they use it for? Increased physical prowess? Beauty? Intelligence? The richest portion of the population already has methods where it gains an edge over the poor in these aspects. They can afford personal trainers, plastic surgery, and tutors for their children. It would simply give the rich a slightly more convenient and reliable method for their purposes. At the same time, it would in fact be capable of preventing diseases and mutations more common to the malnourished and poverty-stricken. The benefit which eugenics can give to the this poorer group outweigh any small accentuation in the difference between the rich and the poor. Of course, this is just based on the assumption that we magically have the capability to do this type of thing reliably and safely. Feel free to critique me.

try to wait until you have an accomplice when attempting to pass the danger zone. 1

senile

@Cronos--I'm sorry, but I don't think HughJ is taking anymore submissions. The workload may have been a bit much.

@Tartar That sounds wonderful! I have had the option to drink coffee, but have always refrained on principle.

Hibiscus tea is my favorite.

Maybe there should be a debate thread, with assigned topics, where people can review arguments and such, just as a way to teach people by doing.

Something along the lines of "We've been reborn in a better place"

\ That is really tall. Is that a typo? Otherwise, how does she speak to people on the ground? EDIT: Ah, ok. good character.

Welcome to Reborn! Those are some good life goals.

tfw when you don't recognize someone on the forums just because their avatar/pic changed

In complete fun: