re: Former Google Engineer: Humans will achieve immortality in eight years

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“ And what is the first practical step ? ”

“Yes, that’s the real question.

As I said, the inter- planetary problem must be left on one side for the moment.

The second problem is our rivals on this planet. I don’t mean only insects and bacteria. There’s far too much life of every kind about, animal and vegetable. We haven’t really cleared the place yet.

First we couldn’t ; and then we had aesthetic and humanitarian scruples : and we still haven’t short-circuited the question of the balance of Nature.
All that is to be gone into.

The third problem is man himself.”

“Go on. This interests me very much.”

“ Man has got to take charge of Man.

That means, remember, that some men have got to take charge of the rest — which is another reason for cashing in on it as soon as one can.

You and I want to be the people who do the taking charge, not the ones who are taken charge of. Quite.”

“ What sort of thing have you in mind ? ”

“Quite simple and obvious things, at first — sterilisation of the unfit, liquidation of backward races (we don’t want any dead weights), selective breeding. Then real education, including pre-natal education. By real education I mean one that has no ‘ take-it-or-leave-it ’ nonsense. A real education makes the patient what it wants infallibly: whatever he or his parents try to do about it. Of course, it’ll have to be mainly psychological at first. But we’ll get on to biochemical conditioning in the end and direct manipulation of the brain.”

“But this is stupendous, Feverstone.”

“It’s the real thing at last.
A new type of man : and it’s people like you who’ve got to begin to make him .”

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