Humans are rejecting God’s creation and becoming their own creators. Will the creation of a new species by genetic manipulation illuminate humanity’s future or lead to its destruction?
Since the past, humans have been considered creatures of the gods. Human civilization began more than 3500 years ago, so for roughly half a millennium, humans have thought of themselves as the work of someone else. These claims were slowly pushed aside by the theory of evolution in the 19th century when Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species. “The Origin of Species states that all living things have evolved into what they are today. In other words, life is the work of time, not God. Therefore, when humans rejected creationism and accepted evolution, they abandoned the idea that they are creatures. In other words, humans refused to be someone else’s creature.
The traditional debate between creationism and evolution is more than just a scientific and philosophical discourse; it has had a profound impact on human self-perception and the meaning of existence. While the belief that humans are creatures of God led us to look to God for the purpose and ethics of our existence, the acceptance of evolutionary theory brought a new recognition that humans are part of nature and the result of its evolution. This marked an important shift in human ethics and moral responsibility from God to humans.
Now, humans want to create new life forms. In the past, human improvement of life was limited to natural improvement through cross-breeding. Today, attempts are being made to improve life by directly manipulating genes. So far, this has been limited to relatively small organisms such as bacteria and mice, but in the near future, we may even be tinkering with our own genes. But will the new humans we create be like us? Will they be like us at all? Or will they signal the beginning of the end of the human race?
One of the most interesting experiments involving genetic manipulation is the enhancement of intelligence through genetic modification. According to a 1999 paper in Nature, it was possible to increase the intelligence of mice through genetic manipulation. Therefore, manipulating human genes could lead to a more intelligent human race. While there have been no human experiments with genetic modification, there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen in the future. If genetic modification experiments continue, it is possible that at some point the test subjects will become human.
We know how altered genes affect the organism. Genetically engineered plants are more resistant to pests and produce higher yields. If we were to modify the genes of humans, they could be more intelligent, live longer, and have an advantage in physical strength. To answer this question, we need to look at how humans, who evolved from monkeys, currently view monkeys. Do we worship monkeys just because we evolved from them? No. We think of them as zoo animals. The relationship between the new species and humanity will be similar. The new species will look down on us because they are superior. They will feel inferior to their own creation, the human race. This lack of respect for each other and the buildup of ill will could eventually lead to war between the New Worlds and the current human race. Just as humans refused to be the creation of God, the new human race could refuse to be the creation of humanity anymore and turn against the human race that created them.
The process of creating a new human race through genetic manipulation also raises ethical and moral issues. Human dignity and free will will be debated, and the conflict between the new humanity and the current humanity is likely to be more than just biological, but also social and political. In this context, we need to think deeply about whether it is right to manipulate human genes.
So how will this war between the races end? Einstein once said that the fourth world war would be fought with sticks and stones. What he meant by this was that by the time World War III broke out, humanity was completely capable of destroying its own civilization. Even today, humanity has weapons that are capable of completely destroying itself. The weapons that will be used in a war in the distant future will also be powerful enough to erase civilization from the face of the earth. Both sides will use weapons of such terrifying power to win the war, and all that will be left afterward will be a scarred victory-or a desolate ruin. Either way, it seems unlikely that the current human race will escape destruction.
Genetic manipulation is already a raging torrent, and there seems to be no stopping it. At any moment, a new genetically engineered human being may be standing next to us. The new human we have created may at some point become a weapon aimed at our own throats, sharp enough to exterminate the human race. But we will have to act carefully, realizing how important our choices and actions today are to avoid this future.
