Elon Musk told why he does not want to engage in genetic engineering




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During a rather long and detailed interview Elon Musk, which he Business Insider has given journalist Tim Urban, among other issues, and sounded like this: is there a possibility that the owner of such innovative companies like SpaceX and Tesla turned his attention to the issues of genetic engineering? For human health, biotechnology, genetic modification - it's just another facet of innovation and who does not like Elon Musk with his reputation as a charismatic visionary leader deal with these issues?

Even as a college student, a young Ilon asked himself the question - what he wanted to do in life, and that can have the most significant impact on people's lives? He made for himself a list of five items: space exploration and colonization of planets, power, internet, artificial intelligence, and modification of the human genome.

Everybody knows that at least three goals of this ambitious list of Elon Musk solved with the help of the company he created. And SpaceX and Tesla cast a deep shadow on the successes mask the online business that Paypal in the context of his personal achievements often mentioned only in passing. In November last year Ilon gave a gloomy forecast about its concerns in the field of artificial intelligence, he believes that in the next 5 10 years is a complete something unpleasant or downright dangerous for mankind. Interestingly, about the same opinion was expressed by the famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

Regarding the last item in your task list - genetic engineering - Kamen believes that this is a potential trigger serious ethical problems in the society, the resolution of which may cost very much. If we can edit the human genes so as to avoid a number of serious diseases such as Huntington's disease, it is certainly fine. But is there any guarantee that people will not stop and start at the genetic level to solve these problems, which would inevitably lead to the question, "And what do acceptable human genetic code?". In this sense, it can be a potential "genetic discrimination" because of his parents at the time did not have enough money to "correct modification" of its genes, and he had to be born with intelligence, below the "minimum acceptable". A definition of this limit poses serious questions to the community that will become harder and harder. Musk calls this situation "a problem of Hitler." & Quot; ... He [Hitler] was the idea of ​​the creation of Superman and genetic purity. And how can we avoid the problem - I do not know. & Quot;

Source: geektimes.ru/post/251912/