yelyos

It comes up often in various places that some brand new technology is reviled because of grand assertions that it is "playing God". Things like cloning, AI, IVF, even life-saving surgeries have been criticized for "playing God". Now I have to ask, what is so morally reprehensible about "playing God"; indeed, does it even have a clear definition?

I await your input.

winstonjen

IMO, you don't need to be a scientist to 'play god'. You just need to interfere in the lives of others.

sweep

I initially thought of dressing up with a bushy white beard and a wig, rather like the deep seated house of lords the royal family and the judicial courts at worst:

'I sentence you to life in a small box. you will never fly a plane, get on a boat, eat good pie without suspicion, make love on a beach, get chance to sow your oats'

but there again god is a big as your mind allows it to be. Since god usually attains infallible qualities, perfect knowledge, perfect presence, clear sight, all changing....

since I am me, I can never know what god is, nor anyone else. outside of our tiny, barbaric nutshells, we view and take part in a giant atomic ping pong show. As the evolution of our languages and environment reaches several milleniums now we continue to ponder. Each insignificant part playing a major role; the whole so mind bendingly vast that it would not be such an absurd notion to at least try to play god.

for if we don't think as beings, and create and explore, then our tiny ant farm gets blotted out in a nanosecond and looks like the moon. that is our ultimate legacy, in my opinion.