Hypothetically lets say technology has evolved to the point where humans can cheaply, easily, and safely modify their bodies in any number of ways. Would you and how? How do you think it would affect our world society?
Obviously people even now undergo a lot of body modifications. Transgender people being some of the more extreme cases I can think of. In this scenario with this hypothetically technology If a man wanted to become a woman they'd go into a clinic, get a shot of nanites (for example), and over the course of Minutes/Hours/Days (whatever) their body would superficially change to that of a woman. In this scenario i'm not sure if changing testes to ovaries with the physical ability to have children would be reasonable, but with sufficient advances who knows what might be possible.
Less extreme body modifications may be also possible and probably a lot more common, such as change in skin tone and features. I'm a tall white guy. Personally, If it were cheap, safe, and easy i'd like to have a more olive skin tone less prone to acne, blonder hair, bluer eyes, and generally more muscular.
Less human looking modifications would probably be relatively easy, such as horns or claws for those who are interested.
Regarding societal changes: In a world where a person could change their superficial racial features like they change their clothes I imagine racism/sexism/etc. would quickly become a thing of the past.
On the subject of wings, because I know someone will bring it up: Functional wings on a human body are probably not possible without severe modifications, such as severe modifications to the chest to add necessary musculature, etc. I assess that the necessary physical changes would leave a person looking far from human and definitely not like an angel. I suspect not many people would want to make that change, but who knows. There are all kinds of people in the world.
On the other hand non-functional wings (meaning they move, but don't actually allow flight) would be relatively easy. They'd look cool, but not actually allow you to fly.
Sounds like a good premise for a theoretical-near-future story. I'd read it.
The major question that immediately springs to mind with this kind of thing is the (literally) changing face of crime. In a world where all it takes to radically alter your appearance is a shot and a few hours/days of waiting, it could make it even more difficult to deal with lawbreakers, especially those whose only connection to the scene of the crime was visual. I imagine DNA matching, even with the alterations from something like a gender swap (since the other things you mentioned seem more superficial and likely wouldn't affect something that deeply), would still be able to do their job. But visual and auditory reports and evidence would be all but useless except against those criminals who can't afford the procedure, fingerprinting could very quickly become obsolete, and so forth.
I imagine new procedures would be developed to keep pace with the available tech, and for legal and law-abiding doctors they would be required to keep records of their patients' procedures, but that'd hardly stop the sort of back-alley physicians criminals would be doing this kind of thing with anyway.
Just my immediate thoughts, for what they're worth =)
In my own case? The only thing I can think off the top of my head that I'd want to do would be to possibly get my eyes and ears fixed. I can't stand anything going near or into my eyes so things like Lasik scare the living daylights out of me and I can't bring myself to use contacts. Taking a shot (preferably not in the head/eye) that would use nanites or something else to repair astigmatism/other ocular defects and hearing damage? That I could handle, I think. Beyond that, I think I'm more afraid of the aftereffects of changing myself too much to take advantage of it. It's one of the many reasons I avoid drugs/alcohol/other intoxicants - I don't like that feeling of not being myself. Heck, I don't even like laughing gas.
I don't know how much nuyen I'd have to spend at the time but I'd definitely at least get a datajack and a smartlink system. Hope I've got enough money for a cyberdeck too. :/
What he said.
Also, I'd fix my knees, attend to any benign birth defects I may not know about, get a cosmetic job done on an allergic reaction I had, and be more muscular overall.
Sounds like a good premise for a theoretical-near-future story. I'd read it.
The major question that immediately springs to mind with this kind of thing is the (literally) changing face of crime. In a world where all it takes to radically alter your appearance is a shot and a few hours/days of waiting, it could make it even more difficult to deal with lawbreakers, especially those whose only connection to the scene of the crime was visual. I imagine DNA matching, even with the alterations from something like a gender swap (since the other things you mentioned seem more superficial and likely wouldn't affect something that deeply), would still be able to do their job. But visual and auditory reports and evidence would be all but useless except against those criminals who can't afford the procedure, fingerprinting could very quickly become obsolete, and so forth.
Something as simple as Copious record keeping for any and all modifications would resolve much of that issue. If some (insert physical description) person committed a crime and then someone of that same description decided to change their appearance shortly thereafter I imagine it would actually be easier for the police to find such a person. With the internet it could be as simple as searching the right database. This assumes of course that the technology is highly regulated and doesn't get into the black market in any functional way.
I imagine new procedures would be developed to keep pace with the available tech, and for legal and law-abiding doctors they would be required to keep records of their patients' procedures, but that'd hardly stop the sort of back-alley physicians criminals would be doing this kind of thing with anyway.
lol. I wrote the above before reading your next paragraph. That's what I get for answering before reading the whole thought. ;-)
Just my immediate thoughts, for what they're worth =)
In my own case? The only thing I can think off the top of my head that I'd want to do would be to possibly get my eyes and ears fixed. I can't stand anything going near or into my eyes so things like Lasik scare the living daylights out of me. Taking a shot (preferably not in the head/eye) that would use nanites or something else to repair astigmatism/other ocular defects and hearing damage? That I could handle, I think. Beyond that, I think I'm more afraid of the aftereffects of changing myself too much to take advantage of it. It's one of the many reasons I avoid drugs/alcohol/other intoxicants - I don't like that feeling of not being myself. Heck, I don't even like laughing gas.
I'm with you on that. I very much like myself inside and out. Naturally there's room for improvement, but I wouldn't get too drastic. I would just use the technology for a better version of myself. Such as the minor changes I mentioned and correcting my eyes so I didn't need glasses. I'd also "renew" my teeth. My teeth aren't bad, but it'd be nice to get a new set and remove the dental work I do have. Odd as it sounds I didn't even think about this technology for reparative purposes. I suppose it'd become the new go-to for many of our more extreme treatments now, such as surgery (where applicable) and dental work.
Actually it sounds like the premise of some stories I read and one book I am reading currently.
Also, Eclipse Phase.
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I'm pretty happy the way things are. I'd probably just do some functional fixes, like improving my hearing on the left side (which has been diminished ever since I got an ear infection while travelling through Mexico about 10 years ago).
As for more dramatic modifications, I'm pretty sure they'll happen sooner than we expect. I wouldn't be surprised to see people with blue skin, tails, and beer-cooling compartments inside their thighs. Some people like standing out, others like the shock-factor, and others try to build their identities around their looks, which means we're likely to see some rather extreme modifications show up as new technology allows it.
Thus, I've often wondered how, if it ever happens, our first contact with aliens will be like:
Alien 1 "Dude, I thought you said these guys were mammals"
Alien 2 "Don't look at me. When we sent the probe 50 years ago, they didn't have secondary heads, glowing skin, spider legs in their backs..."
Alien 3 "... or prehensile genitals..."
Alien 2 "Yeah, that's messed up. Though I have to admit the benefits when it comes to procreating while jumping from high orbit"
Alien 1 "What?"
Alien 3 "Humans, dude, humans. They are like evolution on drugs"
I don't know how much nuyen I'd have to spend at the time but I'd definitely at least get a datajack and a smartlink system. Hope I've got enough money for a cyberdeck too. :/
I'm not overly familiar with the setting, but that sounds like a Shadowrun reference or something similar. Right?
Alien 3 "Humans, dude, humans. They are like evolution on drugs"
Welp there goes another soda
my poor burning nose
I don't know how much nuyen I'd have to spend at the time but I'd definitely at least get a datajack and a smartlink system. Hope I've got enough money for a cyberdeck too. :/I'm not overly familiar with the setting, but that sounds like a Shadowrun reference or something similar. Right?
Shadowrun for life, chummer!!!!!
First I'd go for improved immune system and also would repair my greatest woe: aching backbone. Next step would be fixing eyes, joints, bent nasal septum (it took doctors two weeks to notice on my X-ray photo that my nose was actually broken after a fall on my face when I was a kid). Then setting right a few bent bones. Followed with tuning metabolism, making lungs more efficient, hardening bones to make them unbreakable under ordinary conditions, possibly replacing less efficient organs with better ones, adding neural interface for easy computer and database access. Pain editor and emotional reactions editor for 100% conscious control over responses.
Cosmetic changes would be minor - mostly removal of hair from a few places and making them thicker in few others. Whitening my teeth, but that would be made in addition to improving them/replacing them to make sure they won't break or spoil.
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I could actually hit 5'!
Alien 3 "Humans, dude, humans. They are like evolution on drugs"Welp there goes another soda
my poor burning nose
Oh that can be solved too.
Oh and I guess all the actual problems too. But average height!
Oh, improved directional multi-tracking hearing would be good too.
As much as I'm a fan of the Superpowers angle of this, as I would surely take some of that for myself, I think it's important to note that I was hoping to limit this conversation to physical changes only. Changes to neurobiology are a whole other ball of wax.
This for example:
Oh, improved directional multi-tracking hearing would be good too.
As I understand it the ability to tell where a sound is coming from has more to do with how the brain processes sound than the actual physicality of our ears. However, (assuming it would accomplish a comparable goal) would you be ok with more or bigger ears (like a Doberman) complete with added musculature to make them able to pivot? You'd have the improved multidirectional hearing, but there would be a cosmetic downside. You'd have puppy-like ears. Perhaps in a world where such physical alterations are common it would be considered cute. ;-)
Depending on the cist of it i would either change things all the time or nothing at all. If i can only afford it once or twice in my life, i would be too afraid to regret what i changed later, because I often go through changes in my preferences with everyhting. I notice it most with RPG characters, I come up with new things all the time, for which i would drop old characters, and i think the same would be the case with body modifications. But if i could afford it on something like a half year basis i would probably do some pretty profound changes every now and then. Including but not limited to trying out things like a female body shape, horns, a tail, claws, fangs, crazy skin, hair and eye colors, being taller, shorter...
The only things i would consider doing permanently is maybe an eye and hair color change (ive fancied some all black eyes for a while) as well as a more resilient skin (less prone to acne and such things), less body hair and less body fat, or generally a more slender stature.
If we can have functional improvements, i would definitely want to be faster, stronger, harder, better. Get rid of red-green blindness and adjust the acuteness of my vision at a distance, become ambidextrous, also have one of those metabolisms where you just don't get fat in the first place, pheromone glands that allow me to attract and command squirrels...
Also getting the ability to shoot bees out of my skin. Ever since playing Bioshock i've wanted that.
I'd fix my back. Some days (okay, most days) I get tired of dragging around a half-paralyzed leg. If I fix my back I can get the dead nerves replaced.
I don't know what this would require or entail but... would it be too much to ask to recognize myself in the mirror?
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Reduce my overall height, build and weight. I like being physically imposing at times, but to be truthful not having to test a chair to see if it'll break when I sit in it would be nice. And not paying for two seats on flights. And not having to request a larger sized rental vehicles when traveling (I hate hitting my head when getting in or out). And not being required to buy at big and tall stores. And not having to look for size 15 shoes.
Fixing my vision would be first though.
I suppose I'd have some more hair added in, though I like my bald spot jokes.
And I guess an increase below the belt (why not, it's an ego thing).
While I don't rule out superpowers down the line, mostly I'd want to fix some things. I could certainly tolerate being young, horny, and hot but I'd probably appreciate fixing my allergies, weight, and hairline more in the long run. I don't care all that much about muscles qua muscles. Just give me enough for normal functioning. Ripples and bulges might theoretically be nice but don't dovetail very well with my aesthetic preferences.
Once my forehead became exposed enough to hair loss I'd have Klingon ridges implanted beneath my skin. THEN I'd fix all the things that are wrong like hearing loss, weakening eyesight, addiction to sweet drinks, depression, anxiety, and convert all this fat to muscle.
Gender change would be at the top of the list of potentials modifications straight off.
Fully functional pancreas (or rather removing a sub population of self-reactive Tcells). This is possible now arguably, but the risks are unknown with some treatments long-term for clinically effective dosages, and other known treatments would be very risky (chemotherapy to destroy the immune system entirely, followed by an autologous bone marrow transplant to reboot it, sans diabetes causing T-cells).
Everything else would be ego-stroking for the most part, though I have little to no problem with using science to do just that.
As for the first one, and for a lot of body mods, it's arguably easier to create new body parts and replace the old ones rather than alter the current ones. Altering cells and their genetics is one thing, but the body's extracellular matrix is laid down already and gross modifications run into having to deal with that. It's easier to remove it all, grow a new body part from the resulting stump, or attach a new one that was grown in a tank/dish/donor.
For instance how about growing a non-conscious, acephalic clone of myself, maturing it to the peak of youth on a feeding tube, chopping off the head, chopping off my head and swapping my head onto the new body with some cosmetic surgery to make it look good. I don't actually have a moral or ethical objection to this, even though it's pretty freaky and straight out of a horror movie.
Another thing to add to this discussion is that we don't know how easy it will be to add things into the body that weren't there originally for the early developing brain to accommodate. For instance let's say you put a brain into a new body with a different sex, that brain won't have developed the neural architecture to fully handle some of the new body's sensory inputs, especially for genitalia. You might run into major ghost-sensations-ville or well, we don't know, because certain parts of the brain are pretty sexually dimorphic (and only some of them are strongly cross-sexed in transgender brains). It's going to be a really hard problem to solve, but not impossible. Just a loooot of work.
Also I would want better memory, higher cognitive ability without hitting the wall of trading off function in one area for function in another like you see in autistic savants for instance. Higher amount of brown fat / increased metabolism. And immortalized stem cells without the cancer risk.
I'd sign up for a full cyberbody, a la Ghost in the Shell :) If I'm limited to organic reconstruction, I'd accelerate my metabolism and upgrade my lungs and immune system to deal with my asthma and allergies. Plus some brain upgrades, maybe some increased healing factor, oh and bone claws....
Can I have tentacles?
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Can I have tentacles?
No more than twelve. And no self-hentai scenes. We will have direct brain pleasure stimulators for that.
Hey, these tentacles are for consensual use only!
Why have just one look when you can have them all? I would want a complete body transplant with thought-controlled expansion cells that collectively allowed me to assume the shape of any human with traits within 95% CI. Skin would be self-regenerating chameleon sheets, and my hair would be likewise colour-shifting. If I can't be fully proteus, I would want large, beautiful horns.
I'd make myself shorter. Being a 6 foot goblin was hell as a teenager, and it's still difficult to fornicate with the goblin ladies who are all half my size.
When I'd get bored with flesh I'd consider putting my neural processes to a long range deep space probe and go explore galaxy for a few million years. Maybe seed a few planets with organic life and watch it grow.
Yeah, I have growing posthumanist mood this spring.
I'd like the immortality/regen package.
Higher matabolism.
There's a gene that stops your muscles from growing as much as they could myostatin, I'd like to play with that so you look like arnold without even exercising.
Install a tapedium lucidum (that thing that makes cats eyes glow)for night vision.
Sonar wouldn't be a bad thing, you'd just need to be able to turn it off..
I was thinking this thread would be more along the lines of superficial additions. Horns, Tails, fur, varying colors, etc.
Instead it went the superpower route as many such threads do.
*sigh* not superpowers but practical application of technology to transcend barriers of unaugmented human body.