Consciousness as a Genetic Crutch

Every human with under 15/15 vision before 1300 was probably eaten by a lion. Or something like that.

This probably normalized somewhat as humans became civilized and completely trended to 0 when eyeglasses were invented.

Heroes of humankind saved millions with the cure to polio. There are new treatments every month enabling people with otherwise crippling diseases to live somewhat normally.

I do wonder if the impact to the gene pool is something to look at.

I wonder if the negative impact of Nazi Germany is still felt today. Considering genes as a dimension to optimize for the future has become so taboo that it's hard to even think about.

I'm not advocating for eugenics or anything of the sort. Without eyeglasses we may never have had Einstein, Euler, or the contributions of probably half of all living humans ever! We should constantly be expanding the amount of survivable humans.

I'm merely stating a fact - we use our ability - our consciousness as a genetic crutch.

Evolution is heartless. It'll add genetic drift in almost every dimension and brute force its way to a survivable equilibrium. More often than not this drift is towards negative outcomes, but with modern technology it's possible to offset the negative impact.

Absorb too much sugar in your diet? There's a drug for that. Born with a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol? Statins can help manage that. Inherited a tendency for blood clots? Anticoagulants can mitigate the risk. Myopia running in your family? Corrective lenses or laser surgery can restore 20/20 vision. Genetic baldness affecting your confidence? Hair transplants and medications are available. Even conditions like cystic fibrosis, once a death sentence, now have treatments that significantly extend life expectancy.

Each quality of life increase we invented to offset biological mishaps comes with a corresponding gene pool quality decrease. The more we can fix people that have these problems, the more these problems get passed down

Humans from the 1200's would probably look at a human today dependent on a 15 pill cocktail of drugs, emobility scooter, and other elaborate crutches probably the way we would look at a cyborg-pug. Astonished at the technical feasibility of it all yet mildly surprised the underlying animal is a thing.

Perhaps it's not so bad. It's likely a spectrum, and one we are definitely on. We're only passing on stuff we can already fix. We definitely don't feel ourselves as monstrosities and maybe that's all that matters.

The way a blind person never sees color and hence is not saddened by the fact they are blind is an indication of that.

I do wonder if there is a breaking point. Can 2 or more genetic defects interact and cause a sudden and huge increase in suffering or infant mortality? Will we hit the limits of human ingenuity such that we all live subjectively miserable lives propped up by a cacophony of life supporting technology? Can we just play whack-a-mole with each problem genetics throws our way?

One thing for certain is that if there is, there will be no reversing it once we are there.

If technology was to hit the tiniest bit of technoglogical regression similar to post Roman times we'd likely have a huge exponential increase in human suffering.

A potential solution to this? I don't know. Genetic backups? We already do it for crops, so the idea isn't that crazy. Maybe just sperm since it's easier to collect and store? Current methods of storage peak at 55 years though with sufficient motivation I think it could be pushed much further (maybe infinitely)

Take 2,000 samples, at a cost of $100 per year each, for 300 years. That's $200,000 per year.

Not a bad price for cold storage backup given the stakes.