From: Kenneth Van Oost (Kennethvanoost@belgacom.net)
Date: Mon 23 Dec 2002 - 17:37:33 GMT
More than fundamental in my eyes_ is how, following what happens in the
medical science, prognosticated menomics will look like.
Prognosticated medicine stands for the notion to trace, prevent and control
individual healthrisks.
The ethical problems which announce themselves can 't be dealt with, within
the present frames of what medicine is today. How can we take direct mea-
sures to prevent that certain effects will occur in the near future !?
How can we still give subsance to the ' informed consent'- principle ( the
patient can only agree with a treatment is he/ she is properly informed) if we
don 't know what kind of life the patient can/ will lead in that future !?
How can we say that the decision a patient makes today won 't have deadly
consequences in twenty years time !?
What holds the notion of ' autonomic decision making' within today, if other,
better treatment possibilities/ facilities will be announced in/ for the future !?
It's with these questions that for me rises the importance, not only for me-
nomics, but it offers us a glimpse of what formal aspects of ' future memes ',
or pure time- related memes can do. Especially I think of things that are
obvious and not have to be demonstrated.
In my mind " the obvious immediately imposes itself to the mind through
its certain nature.
It implies the notion of a truth so perfect that this truth needs no further proof
and no further clarification. There is nothing left in it to clarify. It is clarity
itself. " ( Céline)
Which is to say that upon the individual genetic and memetical constitution
based remedies; prevention upon individual genetic advice and gentherapy,
must be part of the medical technology of the future.
We can with the menomica in hand, adequaly predict, and that must be the
word predict, if each new born child has chances to survive.
In modern terms_ does have the child enough qualitative characteristics to
survive !? If we can descipher this, using thus future memes and time- related
memes without any offer of social direction whatsoever, I think we draw a
precise picture of everything of what might/ must be there in the future.
We have to think about what we can change, about what we can improve,
we must think about those characteristics that might be useful for those
ànd who makes ànd for those who want to make the selection.
To suggest that only the scientists/ politicians/ sociologists/ biologists/...
are good inventers/ builders or managers is taking on precise the same
Darwinistic principles and dispositions as those taking by and for other
species.
Each generation of people delivers a great amount of genetic variation where
natural and artificial kinds of evolution can work upon, but that ain 't the thing
I am looking for.
Menomics raises the interest we all naturally feel. The interest of all those
things that no longer have to be there_ we try ( anyway) by the selectively
reproduction of plant/ animal and man to obtain those characteristics where-
by we all benefit. And this is obviously, from our point of view, not new.
What is new, is that eugenetics will be put to its finally and definitive test.
If we accept that modern eugenetics has nothing to do with the " ameliora-
tion " , with the " improvement " of the race or with " forced sterilisation "
than we can began to explore the idea of menomics.
Ever since the mind has started to wander it must have surprised anyone
that with what we ended up, isn 't the line along its works.
The limit hasn 't been reached and won 't be reached for quite some time.
In a way, we have to admit it, genetics have placed us within a world that
is traditional orientated. If we accept the course that the world has streched
itself, we could find that what we were waiting for never will come.
And thus precisely at this point we must posit the hypothesis that the fu-
ture we menomical forsee will be there.
===============================================================
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