Thanks to genetic engineering, the world's smartest people who have ever existed will appear. In considering this topic, the remarks of Nobel Prize Laureate Hans Bethe, who believes that this person will become one of the brightest examples of evolution, will be relevant more than ever.
Let us turn to Lev Landau, the Nobel Prize laureate and also the founder of the Soviet physics school. He relied on his specialized scale of logarithms, the purpose of which was to rank theoretical physicists. The scale ranged from 1 to 5. In comparison with the first physicist, the level of the second was 10 times higher. A similar picture is with the rest. As for Lev Landau himself, he modestly referred himself to the level of 2.5. Only towards the end of his life he took position 2. The first level was intended for Bohr, Dirac and Heisenberg. Level 0.5 was given to Albert Einstein.
A logical continuation of the Landau scale suggests itself. Research in the field of genetics suggests the emergence of individuals with great intellectual performance. Based on the Landau scale, the development coefficient of such people will exceed 1000 points.
Let's turn to Daniel Keyes's novel Flowers for Algeron. The main character, Charlie Gordon, with mental disabilities, took part in the experiment. With the help of surgery, they tried to bring the intellect to indicators from 60 to 200. As a result, a genius comes to replace a simple worker, an object for ridicule. A new, wonderful and unusual life, Charlie likes it. According to him, there is nothing better than the clarity and beauty of this world. Work and active life are the hero's greatest joy.
The possibility of a great intelligence emerging as a result of genetic experiments is very likely. More than one thousand genes are responsible for growth and cognitive abilities, each of which carries its own meaning. In this case, you can derive a scale of genetic influence: positive and negative.
The international community The Social Science Genome Association Consortium, consisting of many university laboratories, has discovered some DNA regions that affect the ability of a person to understand the world around him. A small percentage of genes are responsible for cognitive abilities, therefore, each of the varieties is capable of producing changes in IQ of 15 points.
A more sophisticated analysis will eventually come to indicators of 10,000. In any case, cognitive abilities either increase or decrease. It is logical that a person with an IQ above the average will occupy the appropriate level. If it were possible to change the human body through genetic engineering, the result would be abilities that are 100 times the average.
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There is no definite clarity in the values of intelligence indicators within such limits. Nevertheless, we can confidently state that, in any case, such abilities will cause an unusual intelligence, exceeding the maximum many times. For a more explicit presentation, one can imagine several outstanding scientists at once, gathered in one human image. Everything above the ability will converge in one shell: almost perfect speech and image reproduction, incredibly fast thinking and the ability to reproduce all sorts of calculations no less quickly, there will also be a place for strong geometric visualization and the emergence of the ability to indulge in several thought processes at the same time. Such transfers can last indefinitely.
To achieve such results, you will have to radically change the human genome. With the condition of a positive course of events, this will happen in the event of the appearance of technologies similar to the not so long ago open system, CRISPR / Cas. Over the past few years, it has revolutionized genetic engineering. Genomics scientist George Church of Harvard has identified this system as the most important discovery in recent years.
All this has become the subject of heated debate. For some individuals, initially, the idea of the possibility of quantifying intelligence seems controversial.
This sentiment is not new. Many years of everyday experience of more than one generation says that in part, mathematicians and scientists often do not find, so to speak, a common language with literature and other humanities. This stratification, or delineation of human abilities, has had a significant impact on our perception of the concept of genius. We understand that all sorts of abilities are generated and reproduced in practice, with the participation of one specific part of the brain, but not fully activating both hemispheres. In this regard, the idea of the existence of intelligence in the size of 1000 points becomes unreal, as if some kind of transcendental.
Studies of a psychometric nature, in the competence of which is the definition of intellectual nature, outline a completely opposite situation.
Multi-million dollar observations demonstrate the following: almost all cognitive abilities, albeit “primitive” in their own way, are in a positive relationship and connection. This can be long-term memory, the use of language, quantities, numbers, visual understanding and consideration of spatial relationships, and the like.
An adequate, mutually compensating relationship between different abilities of a person in the same area, gives the result of higher indicators in something else, in some extraneous area. It may even be correct pronunciation, good articulation and diction, in other words, the ability to speak. It also serves as an excellent foundation for the perception and reliable storage of information.
There is another hypothesis about the nature and growth of intelligence. Cognitive abilities are strongly influenced by genetics. This is why they can be hereditary. This claim is supported by strong evidence. Robert Plomin, an expert on genetics and twin studies, believes that genetics is the best way to reflect its effect on intelligence, rather than on other characteristics of the human body.
If we take twins and adopted children as an example, we get a result where the pairwise ratios in IQ will be roughly proportional to the degree of kinship, which, in turn, will be defined as part of the genes common to two individuals. There were minor differences provoked by the environment of the family. These results are also supported by other large-scale studies carried out in different countries.
In the course of the evolutionary process, scientists have found that people who are more exposed to the difficult pressures of the environment, such as poverty, lack of the right amount of food, proper education, generally have low IQ. Unfavorable conditions do not allow human potential to fully unfold.
Many scientists claim that in the near future we will witness important events. Large datasets illuminating human genomes and their analogous phenotypes (indicators of a person's mental and physical abilities) will significantly change our understanding of the genetic code and related human abilities.
For genetic studies, millions of phenotypic and genotypic pairs are needed. And then literally in some ten years, on average, we can witness the emergence of superintelligent people.
With the advent of predictable models, their use in the field of reproduction will also come. This implies the selection of embryos, obvious changes based on genetics and the like.
By making the choice of one egg, the ability to increase the child's IQ from 15 points and above opens. Of course, this will be an expensive and responsible procedure. But at stake will be the question of the child's mental development and other abilities. Oocyte genotyping is a topic that has already undergone good development.
Of course, nobody canceled the possibility of disputes over the ethical side of this issue. And every individual, every society, any social unit will have to decide on their own where this very border of what is permissible for a person is. Already today, some countries will allow the development of such engineering, and some will not. Presumably in the future, most countries will legalize genetic engineering, creating all the conditions for prosperity for it, and then give it the status of a part of the national health care system, and some countries will never be able to accept it for religious and ethical reasons.