On this episode of Conversations with Tom, Jamie Hetzl talks about the future of genetic engineering, the moral questions surrounding it, and the kinds of values he hopes we uphold while charting the course of our own evolution. He and Tom also discuss culture wars, science fiction and the potential problems with immortality.

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SHOW NOTES: 

Jamie discusses his book Hacking Darwin and how we can now influence evolution [0:26]

Jamie forecasts what we will evolve into a thousand years from now [2:20]

Jamie tells the story of natural evolution [5:29]

Jamie talks about how we will be able to eliminate genetic diseases [9:05]

Real science that’s happening now feels like science fiction [14:01]

At first genetic modifications will seem shocking, but then they’ll become normal [16:58]

Do we really want natural people, or do we want steroids and genetic modifications? [19:56]

Jamie tries to figure out where we should draw the line on genetic modification [23:53]

Jamie discusses the moral difficulties with genetic modification [27:03]

Jamie talks about to what extent we should protect people from themselves [31:30]

Jamie advocates being conservative at first about genetic modification [35:19]

Jamie and Tom discuss potential problems with gene editing [39:28]

Jamie and Tom discuss the reality that we will have to embrace gene editing [44:00]

Jamie discusses why we have to think collectively on a global level [51:20]

Jamie talks about science fiction and changing definitions of “us” and “them” [55:35]

Because the world is so complex rules may not work, but values still will [59:49]

What should a written “constitution” of gene editing look like? [1:05:45]

Jamie describes how genetic editing and selection might look in the future [1:12:01]

Will we tend towards uniformity or diversity? [1:17:36]

Jamie thinks immortality is not achievable in the physical bodies we have [1:22:25]

Humans don’t live forever because there are too many parts [1:25:25]

Tom and Jamie discuss the connections between procreation and mortality [1:29:38]

Should you slow down your metabolism? Should you freeze sperm? [1:35:27] 

FOLLOW JAMIE: 

WEBSITE: jamiemetzl.com/

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/jamiemetzl/

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/jamiemetzlauthor/

TWITTER: twitter.com/JamieMetzl

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