1. Flocking Together
“Looking across the whole genome we find that, on average, we are genetically similar to our friends. We have more DNA in common with the people we pick as friends than we do with strangers in the same population.” After reviewing 1.5 million genetic variation markers, that’s the unsurprising research finding from Professors James Fowler (USC, San Diego) and Nicholas Christakis (Yale). “Looking across the whole genome, we find that on average, we are genetically similar to our friends," Fowler explains. "We have more DNA in common with the people we pick as friends than we do with strangers in the same population.” We extend the range of similarities by breeding with people are similar to ourselves, which tends to increase the difference between one group and another—an odd element in the ongoing desire for diversity.
2. Skin Color and Visual Identity
A combination of genetics and adaptation have led our original pigmentation, bone structure, hair, and other physical characteristics into a mass of differences and commonalities that we’re only now beginning to sort out (we now understanding the genome and DNA at a much higher level than before). Figure we’ve been around for about 20,000 years, with a new generation about every 20 years—so that’s 1,000 generations of children born, often to parents of different tribes, cultures, religions, from different places, etc. Everyone is a “mixed race” person—but the likes of the “one drop rule,” passing, Indian blood, the 3/5 rule, the Aryan race, driving while Black—these defined 20th century life, and in various forms, they remain. Pigmentation continues to define race, and with it, economic and educational opportunity, where you can and cannot go, whether you are free, whether you are allowed to vote or own property. As “Caucasians” become a minority in the U.S., as England and France and other nations are changing, as global travel and students continue to study in other nations, the rules are beginning to change, too. Will defining “people like you and me” continue involve a pigmentation question?
3. 21st Century Women
"Women now hold more managerial and professional jobs than men...women now earn more bachelor's, masters and more professional degrees than men...women own or half-own 47 percent of all U.S. firms.”— from Clash!: 8 Cultural Conflicts that Make Us Who We Are by Hazel Rose Markus Ph.D. and Alana Conner, Ph.D., both associated with Stanford University. Girls’ academic achievement ascends while increasing numbers of boys descend and drop out. At the same time, self-mutilation, eating disorders, depression, violence and suicide “acutely endanger” 25 percent of teenage girls. In part, the change is due to shifts in workplace needs: “when the base of wealthy nations's economies moved from manufacturing and construction to service and information, labor demands likewise migrated from male to female bailiwicks. ‘A white collar economy values raw intellectual horsepower, which men and women have in equal amounts.” Still, "a few traditionally female professions--nursing, teaching, social work--remain estrogen enclaves...meanwhile the very highest levels of government, corporations and academia remain testosterone zones. Only 17 percent of U.S. Representatives and Senators are women--the lowest proportion in any industrialized nation--and only 3.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women." Research (Wooley, Malone) study: the more women a group has the higher the group's collective intelligence...women more accurately read other people's thoughts and feelings." Much more to discuss…
4. 21st Century Men
For the first time, we’re losing ground to women. Our boys are more likely to drop out of school; our adults are more likely to be unemployed without a plan. For the past few hundred years, we’ve relied upon our brawn to dominate industry, but height and physical strength are no longer the assets they once were. The technology age tends to value male and female brain power equally. Soon, there will be fewer male lawyers, physicians than women; we’re already the minority among accountants and professional managers. In a significant number of major metropolitan areas, women, on average, earn more than men. Our exclusionary tactics are no longer effective: women are becoming skillful and effective ballplayers, military leaders, and CEOs. In every nation, the next generations of girls and women are being trained to equalize the situation: with universal primary education, improved maternal and gender equality among the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, females will gain greater power, self-confidence, social status, and economic equality. (Meanwhile, are guys just watching a whole lot of football, drinking beer, and playing videogames?) Gentlemen, we’ve got some work to do…
6. Gender/Sexual Preference
It was never simple. It was just kept somewhat secret, and now, in many places, the secrets are no longer closeted. Fortunately for the continuation of the human race, men tend to prefer women, and women tend to prefer men. For much of our history, relationships between men and men, men and women, adults and children have been common—with animal partners less popular, and digital or robotic partners on the ascendant. A long history of dark punishment for unacceptable preferences / behaviors seems to be shifting in a period of acceptance with gay marriages leading the way (and benefiting from shifts in thinking about civil rights, women’s rights, and other 20th century developments). These changes prompt questions about the nature and purpose of marriage, the definition of discrimination, ever-present questions about what we ought to teach our children (and who ought to teach them). Do we define “people like you and me” as those who think as we do about sexuality—or those who do as we do? Is this a necessary public issue? Are we to be guided by a Bible or other religious scripture? Or is this a matter best left in privacy of a bedroom?
7. Replication and Substitution
For most of our time on earth, humans have been limited by the resiliency of our body parts. Whether artificial, mechanical, prosthetic, robotic or by other means, we are learning to replicate, substitute, replace, and remanufacture human body parts: hips, knees, hearts, and more. We harvest donors’ organs and replace corneas, tendons, hearts, lungs, kidneys, as well as skin and bones. The use of stem cells vastly increases our potential. 3-D printers will be used to generate body parts, such as human ears. Most (perhaps all) humans are comforted by the use of new technologies to ease the burden of the ill or injured, but these innovations are not without their ethical, moral, spiritual, and political issues. Issues are sharply drawn when full-scale cloning of animals, or humans, is considered as anything more than an interesting experiment. The development of spare parts may save lives, but raises more issues as clones are created for inventory. Frozen sperm and other means of keeping human products viable beyond their time makes the conversation richer. When robotic or super-human body parts are added, we begin to ask questions about just how much of a human body must or should be composed of natural parts—and whether custom-ordering children from a menu is desirable. As prosthetics, robotics, and other technologies are used to expand human capabilities beyond those available from our own bodies—including matters of the brain, and matters sexual—this becomes a lively discussion. (Those steeped in religion may be especially vocal.)
8. Will your child (or grandchild) marry a robot?
At first, the question seems impossible, but consider the convergence of cognitive science, artificial intelligence and robotics converge; increasingly diverse norms for relationships and families; our high comfort level with technology. A reasoned discussion examines our most personal relationships--and the future of the human race. We begin by exploring a surprisingly diverse range of definitions of marriage, and the equally surprising range of activities that robots currently (and will soon) perform. Some robots are designed to simulate, and improve upon, human capabilities. And nearly all robots are, or will be, customizable, upgradable, designed for specific purposes. Memory can be improved and degraded (for some relationships, a clear benefit). As genetic engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, cognitive science, and the connection between humans and technology continues to evolve, these types of relationships are likely to become more common. And that raises all sorts of questions about love and the nature of human beings in the 21st century (and beyond).
5. 21st Century Children
Early in the 20th century, public education transformed the role of the child. We made the big decision: to invest in children to build the next generation of workers, thinkers, leaders. Never certain whether education’s role was to motivate or cause direct learning, the system has always been imperfect, always scaffolded by non-school approaches like Boy Scouts, street games, organized spots, and parent-guided experiences from reading to preparation for adult activities (cooking, sewing). A century later, digital native children think differently—they are connected to one another, and to sources of information. Before they’re two years old, they’re manipulating a mobile device. When older children have a question, they may first look to a device, then to an adult. They are aware of the strange dichotomy: school encourages closure and relies upon tight evaluation; but the internet and real life encourage exploration and self-discovery. They are overbooked, inconsistently free, competitive to the point of stressing out but rewarded for just showing up, and they are coping with adult-sized problems that were never part of a child’s world. As we continue to evolve, the life of a child becomes more complicated. And our need to protect our children becomes infinitely more complicated--at precisely the moment when we want nothing more than to offer them greater freedom.
They're on the bus and the train. Maybe they merit a smile or a nod. They are friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends--the people in your secondary and tertiary circles who barely exist until you run short of options in a job search (they are your best sources because there are so many of them!) Fundamentally, these are the people whose lives intersect with our own and may parallel our habits: shopping in similar markets, enjoying the same movies and TV shows, discussing the same range of topics, sharing leisure activities in National Parks or in Paris or Prague. It's easy to communicate with people like you and me: we speak the same language (literally and figuratively), and we may be genetically similar, too.
3. People Like You & Me