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Originally Posted by Professor S
There are all kinds of reasons to be both for and against this kind of research. On one side the scientific and immediate benefits are palpable: disease cures, understanding of life and its beginnings, etc.
But there are all kinds of ethical issues, much less the idea of a "butterfly effect" dealing with man's understanding of himself.
When man creates life, man becomes God. If man is God, what happens to our humanity?
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We would still be humans. Just humans with really cool technology.
God is constantly used to explain mystery. God used to be used to explain common happenings in nature and science, but as our knowledge of the world grew we learned exactly why certain things happened. We know why objects don't fall off the face of the earth, we know why hurricanes form and why it rains, we know what causes earth quakes and electric storms. Through the centuries God has been used to explain less and less things.
If we figure out how to create life, and then figure out how life was created, God won't be needed to explain that anymore. It's just how it is. Creating life will not make us Gods. It will just further our understanding of the world around us.
Saying that "when man creates life man becomes God" is a bit of an overstatement. A huge one, in fact. I don't believe in God, but I do understand that there is more to him/her than making life.
edit: My 3000 post.
