Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-05-2014, 05:47 PM   #61
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Re: Genetic Enhancments and society

Quote:
Originally Posted by Otaku View Post
Perhaps I read too much into your comment about "healthcare economic problems". I was probably being a bit too focused on my own culture and country. In the United States of America, our healthcare system has been struggling and the primary reason for that... is us.
  • Refusal of the individual to take care of said individual's own health.
  • Refusal of the individual to take responsibility for said individual's own health care and medical needs.
  • Well meaning but flawed governmental programs often ignoring both the reality of healthcare and economics.
I believe your list to be largely false. We do not all start even and we all could not be healthy if we really wanted to. The slate isn't blank. Only improved understanding of genetics and physiology even has the potential to solve many health problems.
__________________
Fred Brackin
Fred Brackin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-05-2014, 11:00 PM   #62
Gedrin
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Default Re: Genetic Enhancments and society

Advanced biotech won't solve social problems such as "healthcare". Yes, there will be less disease. Injury will be easier to repair. People will live longer and even be more beautiful. However, some will still have better mods, care and treatment. Just as nearly everyone in the US has access to cheap drugs undreamed of a century ago, yet we still have conflict over availability of medicine, we'll still have conflict over availability of medicine, mods and professional care with the wonder drugs of the future. The bar will rise for, in a non-distiopia, all, but some will have more. Poverty is relative.

Of course, if you put mod microbes in the water to make everyone hive mind, then you can fix it.
, but we're back to that distopia thing.
Gedrin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-05-2014, 11:53 PM   #63
simply Nathan
formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans'
 
simply Nathan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Wyoming, Michigan
Default Re: Genetic Enhancments and society

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
I believe your list to be largely false. We do not all start even and we all could not be healthy if we really wanted to. The slate isn't blank. Only improved understanding of genetics and physiology even has the potential to solve many health problems.
His list looks pretty solid to me. Nowhere does he imply that people don't vary genetically in medically meaningful ways, nor that improved understanding of genetics and physiology won't help in treating issues that come up.

But it won't help the economic situation of healthcare as it is now in the US, for the reasons he stated. The underlying problem there isn't that people get sick. It's actually really, really, complicated.
  • Being treated for sickness is expensive outside many peoples' reach financially (I'm in debt for two years because my appendix burst last year)
  • "Health insurance" policies to help pay are also often out of financial reach
  • Medical care is priced as highly as it is partly from bad bargaining skills due to people leaving these things up to impersonal insurance companies to do the bargaining
  • Doctors need to have expensive education and there's no room allowed for low-skilled medical professionals to operate on a budget; everything must always be top of the line with absolutely minimal risk
  • * Doctors also need to take out insurance policies against their low but extant risk of failure
  • * * These insurance policies follow the same politics as the others, but fewer people are immediately cognizant of them
  • Politicians think they can fix some of these things by raising minimal standards of medical quality or bullying people who can't afford insurance into buying it or, barring that, spending tax money to insure people who didn't buy any
  • * Ultimately that money has to come from somewhere
__________________
Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.
simply Nathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
biological engineering, biotech, genetics, setting

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:40 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.