The Future is Terrifying! And I love it

Hi, I discuss some weird stuff in here. If you’re easily grossed out, maybe skip this blog! Read my others, two times each, and share them on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, you know, the works.

Dateline: 2018, we live in a world where self-driving cars, self-sustaining industrial plants, and a future in extraplanetary colonialism seems possible, but enough about what Elon Musk is doing. We live in the future that Sci Fi writers dreamed of, before creating writing their dystopian fantasies about cruel leaders who use mass media to lie to their people and manipulate thought on a massive scale (good thing its just in the books! Right?). But with this future, comes new technology that is frightening in ways we could never comprehend. Thanks to advents in research tools and global learning, most people have no idea what kooky invention could roll out next. Gene editing, self-replicating machinery, and of course drones that can deliver pizza are all things that could affect our livelihoods as soon as next year, and while these ideas have a massive capacity for good, they also harbor a very real evil living inside each of them.

Rather than go on about the existential dread of ideas that might soon be a reality, there is a large discussion to be had about the existential dread that comes from products, technology, and concepts that do already exist. Things that, a few years ago, seemed too stupid to exist, and yet… here we are. That’s right. Today, I’m diving into poop transplants, the Fermi Paradox, and the concept of immortality.

Fecal Microbiota Transplants are essentially a reverse enema. You take stool from a donor, test it, mix it with some salt water, and then insert it into a person’s gut in order to introduce healthy bacteria into the body.

This procedure picked up a lot of steam when the idea of the “gut brain” hit the academic streets like an ice cream truck on a hot summer’s day. The gist of the concept is that tiny microbes in your digestive tract are capable of manipulating the brain via hormones and other chemical signals. When your stomach growls, that’s your gut brain helping your real brain out, letting you know that you’re hungry. Some researchers even attribute cravings and tastes to the gut brain as well! Meaning someone who eats a lot of vegetables might be biologically predisposed to do so, due to the biotic life living in their tum tum. This is because the micro organisms have favorite foods as well, so the more healthy food you eat, the more energy the micro organisms who crave healthy food will grow. It’s a domino effect, kind of. So, taking the poop that has those health food nutjob hipster bacteria in it, and putting that inside of your fast food loving, junk food craving gut, can THEORETICALLY help cause you to eat healthier.

Of course, Fecal Microbiota Transplants aren’t just used for weight loss or appetite altering. The process actually helps fight C. Diff, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, and Chron’s disease. But there’s a catch. You knew there’d be a catch, right? It’s illegal in the US and Canada other than for recurring C. Diff. So, guess what? People do it on their own, at home. I KNOW RIGHT???

There isn’t really any evidence that there’s been abundant medical problems relating to at home Fecal Microbiota Transplants, but a writer for the Atlantic pointed out that there could be infections, poor screening/testing for donors, and the writer even hinted at a possible fecal black market (the name of my grunge R. Kelly cover band) that shirks regulations and gouges prices.

The FDA requires more testing before they okay the use of this procedure for non C. Diff health concerns, which is ultimately pretty standard for insane sounding medical treatments. Hopefully the bureaucracy of it all doesn’t do more harm than good.

From a problem really close to home, we move to a problem in space. The Fermi Paradox asks the famous question “Where is everybody?” This question (allegedly) comes straight from Enrico Fermi himself, while discussing aliens, Fermi came to the conclusion that since there are billions of stars like the sun, that means statistically, there should be planets capable of bearing life similar to Earth, but the paradox of it all is that there is no evidence of aliens existing (Queue conspiracy theories about Roswell, the pyramids, and Area 51).

The reason that the paradox is terrifying, is because Fermi is right. Statistically speaking, there are enough stars/planets in our ever-expanding universe that other life should exist. So, why haven’t we met them? This is where the terrifying part comes into play. There have been multiple attempts at explaining why aliens haven’t visited, and some of them don’t bode well for the future of humanity.

The most obvious is war. We haven’t met aliens because they always wipe themselves out or nuke themselves back to the stone age. There could be an innate drive deep within our evolutionary biology that forces us to destroy ourselves. There have been multiple moments throughout human history where it seemed like the world could end, and any restraint that saved us might not come through next time and might not have stopped the aliens from doing the same.

There is also the idea of “great filters.” Essentially, each step of development requires a specific set of goals or coincidences. The proposed filters are anything from the “right” star system for producing habitable planets to the development of multi-celled lifeforms that can evolve to eventually become animals with large enough brains to eventually invent intergalactic travel.

Each of these filters is essentially a gambling maneuver, and it is nearly impossible to calculate the probabilities of each step being successful. So, without knowing how likely each step is to be successful, we really can’t predict how likely it is for alien life to get to the point, technologically speaking, humans are, or even surpass us. Additionally, the list of great filters is most likely incomplete. There could be more that mankind needs to do to be able to colonize the galaxy (or just travel outside of it). Additionally, some of the earlier filters that mankind has already passed might be a lot harder (statistically) than we think, meaning it’s unlikely for anything to develop past that filter in particular. So either, we will statistically always be alone, or… we might soon stagnate.

My favorite (and the most comforting) counter to the Fermi paradox actually comes in the form of a Watsky song. Watsky’s rap lyrics are often layered in metaphor or various literary references, and are worth listening to (or just reading, honestly). Within the song “Theories” the final part of the Lovely Suite collection of songs on the album X Infinity, Watsky states:

I’ve heard it said we’re alone in the ether

No, we’re the only intelligent creatures,

So, you don’t need to adjust your receivers.

If they were out there they’d texting us, hitting our beepers.

Invading us on some alien, Julius Caesar,

Or begging take me to your leader,

But I got a theory

It’s neither.

That there’s a billion alien planets at leisure.

Smoking alien reefer.

The evolution of the mind’s not the hunger to conquer,

Or to want, or to seek, or to wander,

Or even wonder, but simply to be.

Until we cease to be any longer.

Here’s a timestamped link if you want to hear that part of the song. Sure, there is humor there, but you might notice it as a stark contrast to the theory that war might be what keeps species from reaching the state where they could travel intergalactically, but instead a sort of peace that comes with evolution. The entire album is definitely worth listening to, and in the near future I might do a deep dive on Watsky’s discography, this is a preview of that, I guess.

So, we have no idea if there’s aliens, and there’s a list of reasons why. There are plenty of other theories that attempt to disprove the Fermi Paradox, and they’re very interesting, I invite you to do some research yourself. If you're interested in this topic, start with the Zoo Hypothesis.

On the subject of space travel, one of the biggest reasons colonization isn’t in the cards just yet is the human life span. We, as a race, can’t survive for long enough for extended space travel. Colonization ships that travel outside of the solar system would most likely need to be prepared for generations of humans to live on that ship. Which raises multiple moral and ethical concerns, one solution to this, of course, is expanding the human life span.

Currently, we are very aware of why “old age” is a thing. Telomeres are small caps at the end of a chromosome that protect from deterioration and are one of the direct causes for aging. The more a cell divides, the more a telomere shortens. Meaning a specific cell has a shelf life before it becomes more of a problem than a reason you're alive right now. Knowing why a problem exists and knowing how to fix the problem are two vastly different parts of science. But the biggest issue here is… is aging even a problem?

In a world where galactic colonization is theoretically possible, should humanity look into finding a way to stop aging? Should the process be limited to a small number of people, if so, who? If not, what will we do to deal with the problems of overpopulation, boredom, and disease. How much is a life worth if it cannot die naturally? More or less? What effect does this have on class-based societies? The questions are endless, which is good I guess, if you’re immortal. You’ve got the time to figure all of that out!

Maybe we should move away from immortality and move toward simply doubling the average human lifespan. Is that ethical? Think about generations and the job market. If you think it’s messed up now, imagine having someone who works for 100 years instead of 40. The potential for personal growth is massive, but when it comes to societal growth its more than stinted. Especially when you consider how much a fresh mind can discover. What opportunities would we miss out on if there wasn’t room for young creative geniuses to flourish, because the great minds of the past never died? At what point should medical progression stop, and how fair is it to even have a say in that question? Especially if you’ve never lost someone to a terminal disease, but even more especially if you have lost someone to a terminal disease.

I think, rather than focusing on letting humans live forever, we should find a way to make dogs live forever. Yes that’s how I’m ending my blog, deal with it.