Breeding Supercreatures

[Gim]

We should breed better humans.

What if the better humans overtake the current humans?

[Donut section]

Do you want orcs. Because this is how you get orcs.

But I want a T-Rex!!!

Orc dinosaurs are called squigs afaik

[The Liberated Territories]

We should breed better humans.

What if the better humans overtake the current humans?

Who cares?

[Thermodolia]

We should breed better humans.

Like that would make sense

[Thermodolia]

But I want a T-Rex!!!

Orc dinosaurs are called squigs afaik

I want one

[Gim]

What if the better humans overtake the current humans?

Who cares?

We might die.

[Donut section]

Orc dinosaurs are called squigs afaik

I want one

From memory one becomes many real fast.

[The Liberated Territories]

Who cares?

We might die.

YOU might die, but I shall ascend to immortality.

[Thermodolia]

Who cares?

We might die.

The earth will be in much better hands

[Thermodolia]

I want one

From memory one becomes many real fast.

So? 6, 11, 20! I want them!!

[USS Monitor]

We should breed better humans.

What if the better humans overtake the current humans?

Good. If they're actually BETTER, and not some nonsense like "racially pure" or whatever, then the world will be greatly improved when they take over.

[USS Monitor]

Who cares?

We might die.

Everyone dies anyway.

[AiliailiA]

Yeah OK, but not so much as whacky pets but for food and medicine.

The totally brainless meat-animal should be a priority: some "brain" might seem necessary to regulate the animal's hormones and organs, but perhaps that could be done by electronics instead; addressing the ethical concern but also the wastefulness of growing and maintaining brain tissue that isn't later used for human food. In fact all the organs and most of the bones (currently wasted in meat production) could live for twenty or thirty years in which time the "animal" would have produced fifteen or twenty harvests of meat.

Apparently, in India there used to be pig toilets. Yes, that's as disgusting as it sounds: up top there's a toilet, where people piss and shit, and down round the back there are pigs who eat the human waste. This for some reason went out of fashion ... anyway, without completing the cycle by humans eating the pigs who eat the shit, perhaps a supercreature which eats human shit could be developed as a means of disposing of human waste and producing a safe fertilizer and/or biogas for power.

Well I'd move on to discussing 'supercreatures' for medicine or as implants (sybiotes) but I think I grossed myself out.

[Narland]

This sounds like a troll title, I know, but hear me out on this one: should we invest more into breeding supercreatures with unique traits? It didn't take us long to make monstrosities like the adorable pug or the dreadlocked Vizsla. Artificial selection is a helluva drug. We can do all sorts of things - should we be branching out into breeding for more unusual and experimental traits? Or is the horror we currently inflict on domesticated animals bad enough?

You take the good with the bad. Uplifting Cephalopods to sapience without changing their innate behaviour that divides everything into an enemy, a tool, a potential mate, or probable food is a very bad idea. Giving cats opposable thumbs without removing their disdain for humanity could be an early learning exercise. Fluffy woolen but voraciously carnivorous dire wolf-sheep with birdlike flocking behaviour would be entertaining until escaping their pens.

Fast moving pit vipers that dispense inoculations and useful medication would be keen, especially if they can be behaviorally modified to seek out those who most need bitten. Genegenirng has exciting applications for people who have great ideas. Mine unfortunately seem silly, like:

Fuzzy cat-snakes that purr and coil up next to the octo-puppy as the bunny-bat is just waking up for the night would be a snapchat moment.

A fast food restaurant chain could stretch one 200 ton apato-bovine into a million burgers.

Spider-flies that kill and eat other household pests and then eat themselves when there is no other food source available.

Uplifted 6 meter tall cassowaries used as shock troops and perimeter guards.

[Olthar]

What? You mean like Krypto the Super-Dog? Or Comet the Super-Horse? Or Streaky the Supercat? Or Beppo the Super-Monkey?

[Frank Zipper]

Window cleaning geckos.

Cats that act as alarm clocks, but actually wake you up at a reasonable hour.

[Risottia]

Yeah OK, but not so much as whacky pets but for food and medicine.

The totally brainless meat-animal should be a priority: some "brain" might seem necessary to regulate the animal's hormones and organs, but perhaps that could be done by electronics instead; addressing the ethical concern but also the wastefulness of growing and maintaining brain tissue that isn't later used for human food. In fact all the organs and most of the bones (currently wasted in meat production) could live for twenty or thirty years in which time the "animal" would have produced fifteen or twenty harvests of meat.

Apparently, in India there used to be pig toilets. Yes, that's as disgusting as it sounds: up top there's a toilet, where people piss and shit, and down round the back there are pigs who eat the human waste. This for some reason went out of fashion ... anyway, without completing the cycle by humans eating the pigs who eat the shit, perhaps a supercreature which eats human shit could be developed as a means of disposing of human waste and producing a safe fertilizer and/or biogas for power.

Well I'd move on to discussing 'supercreatures' for medicine or as implants (sybiotes) but I think I grossed myself out.

Well, bio-engineering anaerobic bacteria to digest liquid waste better is already a thing iirc. Now, if we could build plastic-eating bacteria and release them in the ocean, especially where the gyres concentrate plastics...

[AiliailiA]

Yeah OK, but not so much as whacky pets but for food and medicine.

The totally brainless meat-animal should be a priority: some "brain" might seem necessary to regulate the animal's hormones and organs, but perhaps that could be done by electronics instead; addressing the ethical concern but also the wastefulness of growing and maintaining brain tissue that isn't later used for human food. In fact all the organs and most of the bones (currently wasted in meat production) could live for twenty or thirty years in which time the "animal" would have produced fifteen or twenty harvests of meat.

Apparently, in India there used to be pig toilets. Yes, that's as disgusting as it sounds: up top there's a toilet, where people piss and shit, and down round the back there are pigs who eat the human waste. This for some reason went out of fashion ... anyway, without completing the cycle by humans eating the pigs who eat the shit, perhaps a supercreature which eats human shit could be developed as a means of disposing of human waste and producing a safe fertilizer and/or biogas for power.

Well I'd move on to discussing 'supercreatures' for medicine or as implants (sybiotes) but I think I grossed myself out.

Well, bio-engineering anaerobic bacteria to digest liquid waste better is already a thing iirc. Now, if we could build plastic-eating bacteria and release them in the ocean, especially where the gyres concentrate plastics...

Then they'd eat the plastic. Yeah, but what happens after that? What eats the bacteria, what waste products do the bacteria produce?

I think we should trial these things in more controlled environments, where we can observe closely what happens and if necessary shut down the trial. For instance a disused swimming pool, fill that up with water and plastic waste, and try out the bacteria in there.

And I'm particularly concerned about bacteria because they evolve so fast! If we engineer a nice bacterium that eats (say) polyethlene, producing only water and carbon dioxide as waste, it might get beaten out by a mutant strain which skips that final step and produces water and methane (a worse greenhouse gas than CO2 as you know). Far worse things could happen with more exotic plastics like polyester or polystyrene.

[Gim]

Good. If they're actually BETTER, and not some nonsense like "racially pure" or whatever, then the world will be greatly improved when they take over.

Well, BETTER does not necessarily mean GOOD. BETTER might be EVIL.

[USS Monitor]

Good. If they're actually BETTER, and not some nonsense like "racially pure" or whatever, then the world will be greatly improved when they take over.

Well, BETTER does not necessarily mean GOOD. BETTER might be EVIL.

No. Better means better. TLT didn't say something like "stronger" where they might be totally shitty people. He said better. If they are evil bastards, they are not better.

[Gim]

Well, BETTER does not necessarily mean GOOD. BETTER might be EVIL.

No. Better means better. TLT didn't say something like "stronger" where they might be totally shitty people. He said better. If they are evil bastards, they are not better.

Well, I thought. "better", as in better in intellect. If that's his meaning, then I understand.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

This sounds like a troll title, I know, but hear me out on this one: should we invest more into breeding supercreatures with unique traits? It didn't take us long to make monstrosities like the adorable pug or the dreadlocked Vizsla. Artificial selection is a helluva drug. We can do all sorts of things - should we be branching out into breeding for more unusual and experimental traits? Or is the horror we currently inflict on domesticated animals bad enough?

A what now?

Supercreatures?

For what purpose? Military?

[Gim]

For what purpose? Military?

Reminds me of Watchmen.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

For what purpose? Military?

Reminds me of Watchmen.

...I cannot see the line of connection between supercreatures and Watchmen. Please tell me why.

[Gim]

Reminds me of Watchmen.

...I cannot see the line of connection between supercreatures and Watchmen. Please tell me why.

Dr. Manhattan?