GENOBILITY

[Dr. Goodword]

• genobility •

Pronunciation: jen-no-bil-ê-ti • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: A potential community of genetically engineered people whose genes would be manipulated before birth to make them "perfect", let's say, uniformly smart, strong, beautiful, compassionate, and charismatic.

Notes: We seldom risk writing up a word that has no reference and possibly never will, but today's Good Word raises a hitherto unavailable possibility: engineering the genetic properties of babies so that they have all the qualities we want our children to have. The human genome (DNA map of all the human genes) is almost complete. When it is, we will be able to identify and modify genes to create specific characteristics in our children. I suppose the genoble community will comprise genoblemen and genoblewomen, but I'm just guessing.

In Play: That day hasn't arrived yet, so it is difficult to imagine how we might use this word today: "Creating a uniform genobility will be difficult since few of us can agree on what a perfect human is." We can only surmise the social impact of the genobility: "After the rise of the genobility, will the rest of us become the genpeasants?" Wherever genetics leads us, English will provide the terminology we need to talk about it.

Word History: Today's Good Word is a blend of genetic and nobility. A blend is the result of taking two words and just smushing them together. We blend words rather often in English but it is far less common in other languages. Nobility is the noun from noble, which we borrowed, via Old French, from nobilis "noble". Nobilis is a derivation of the root gno- "know", the source of English know and Latin gnoscere "get to know". The Latin verb later became simply noscere, but not before ignorare "to not know" arose. This verb was borrowed in two forms by English as ignore and ignorant, qualities the genobility would ignore. (We cannot, however, ignore the debt we owe to Sandra Larsen, however, for alerting us to this newly emerging Good Word.)

[Slava]

An interesting idea, genobility, but what would people do afterward? It's much like the search for Utopia, you can't get there. If you ever did, you'd die of boredom.

To boot, while I expect it will become possible to modify genes for beauty and brains, just where does compassion lie?

For an interesting, though not for the timid, discussion, see The Utopian Vision of H. G. Wells.

[Stargzer]

For an interesting look into genetic manipulation and its possible implications, read Nancy Kress' trilogy about The Sleepless: Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride.

Beggars in Spain, a novella expanded to a novel and then a trilogy, describes the Sleepless, babies whose parents have paid to have their genes manipultated to eliminate the need for sleep. As younger children they need care-givers and tutors around the clock, but because of the extra time they have by not sleeping, they learn more and learn quicker than their sleeping counterparts. This causes a rift in families with both types of children (such as the protagonists), and eventually a rift in society in general as the Sleepless outpace the Sleepers academically and economically. The Sleepers eventually begin to fear first the Sleepless and then the offspring of the Sleepless, who evolve into Supersleepless with more even more enhanced intellects and brain functions.

The series also explores a libertarian worldview versus that of a socialist worldview, i. e., what, if anything, do the productive owe the unproductive?

A good read all around.

[Slava]

For an interesting look into genetic manipulation and its possible implications, read Nancy Kress' trilogy about The Sleepless: Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride.

The series also explores a libertarian worldview versus that of a socialist worldview, i. e., what, if anything, do the productive owe the unproductive?

A good read all around.

Sounds like an interesting series. I don't know if I'll get around to reading it anytime soon, but I'll bear it in mind the next time I'm in a book store. Oops! I just remembered, my city doesn't have one anymore.

That bit about the productive v. the un-so is spooky. Who gets to decide what's productive, and what level of productivity is worthy of survival? I guess that would put the kibosh on the "compassion" bit of the proposed genobility, eh?

[Stargzer]

Is there a public library anywhere nearby? I bought my copy of the first novel from the library's surplus shelf and checked out the others.

I found one source in an e-book format. Check Amazon and Barnes & Noble, too, for e-book versions.

It's been several years (5 - 10?) since I read the series. In that particular world, energy is not a problem; there is a class of people that depend upon handouts.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia, describing a part later in the first novel:

In the year of America's tricentennial, all is placid. America has re-stratified itself into a three-tiered society. At the bottom are the "Livers," an under-educated but well-fed 80% of the population who enjoy a life of leisure. Above them (or below them) are the "donkeys," the genemod white-collar force who run the infrastructure and are elected into office by the Livers, earning votes via bread and circuses. Finally, the Sleepless are the source of just about all technological, genetic and scientific advances.

[Slava]

Is there a public library anywhere nearby?

Oops. You know, I keep forgetting about the library, which is only two blocks away. My mother was a bookie, a dealer, so I tended to get my books from her. Perhaps for that reason I expect I will never get into the e-book revolution. Call me a Luddite, but I prefer physi-books.

I do have this written down as a topic to take up with my brother, though. He's a sci-fi fan, so I expect he'll at least have heard of these.

[Stargzer]

I prefer hard-bound books myself, but sometimes price can make a difference if it's hard to find at a reasonable price in paper. Or even impossible to find, in the case of some books on Gutenburg.

I once saw a definition i liked, in an electronics magazine, I think:

BOOK: Bound Optimally Organized Knowledge.

Althought, the Optimal part isn't always true, unfortunately.

Still, there is much to be said for the PDF and HTML file when it comes to documentation. I feel quite certain that, back in the old days, Lotus Symphony was sold by the pound. The manuals were the heaviest I've ever hefted for their size. There is no substitute, however, for the ability to slip a few pieces of paper into various pages to make it easier to quickly flip back and forth between sections of a book in 3D space.

[Slava]

I once saw a definition i liked, in an electronics magazine, I think:

BOOK: Bound Optimally Organized Knowledge.

I once saw such an acronym for PENCIL, too, but have never been able to find it again. Care to take a stab at it?

[Stargzer]

No, but if I ever fly again, I'll be taking a dozen freshly sharpened pencils with me so I can tell any hijacker, "Eat Lead, Dirtbag."

Stargzer has always been of the opinion that everyone boarding an airplane should be issued a weapon. That way the Good Guys will not only outnumber the Bad Guys but will be able to overpower them. Remember Flight 93!

[Slava]

No, but if I ever fly again, I'll be taking a dozen freshly sharpened pencils with me so I can tell any hijacker, "Eat Lead, Dirtbag."

Shouldn't that be graphite?

[Stargzer]

It's just no pun talking to you ...

[Slava]

Probably because I'm wit-less.