Humans are considered a big threat to the environment, and a group of scientists has come up with a few ways we could become better inhabitants.
Humans are considered a big threat to the environment, and a group of scientists has come up with a few ways we could become better inhabitants.
All of them involve bio-engineering in some way.
The group isn’t actually suggesting people be involuntarily tinkered with, but their suggestions do present some perspective-shifting truths about how we engage with the planet.
One is about our eating habits. Given the toll producing large quantities of meat takes on the environment, perhaps the answer is to make humans enjoy it less.
S. Matthew Liao, co-author of a thought-provoking research paper, suggests creating a patch that will trigger illness when meat is consumed, thus forcing people into a vegetarian diet.
Another suggestion is making people 25 percent smaller.
Ways of doing that could include hormone treatments, drugs, or even manipulating a child’s nutrition.
For many that would be crossing the line, but in the idea’s defense Liao makes a compelling point.
He argues that many people are already taking extreme measures to alter their appearance, so there may be individuals out there willing to do so for the environment.
It’s been noted that someday altering humans may be easier than repairing the planet.
