And I thought F%$# was a bad word….

Babel -17, is an interesting SciFi novel by Samuel R. Delany. During an interstellar war one side constructs a language that can manipulate thought. This language is called Babel-17 and turns anyone who learns it into a traitor. The language also enhances other abilities as well. It’s strange because I couldn’t help notice how this story –written almost 40 years ago can be eerily translated into some popular topics of today.

            The first thing I thought of when I understood what Babel-17 was the term “Designer Babies.” A  “Designer Baby” is a phrase coined by media and journalists, which refers to a baby who was created with the help of in-vitro fertilization. This sounds harmless right? Well right now, it is. But what does the future have in store? Soon people will be able to choose the genes their kids have. “I want a child who is 6”1’, who will have blue eyes and blond hair with an IQ of 132,” one might say.   All those qualities sound attractive and appealing right? Right. But are they the parent’s child anymore or the scientist’s child? Are they even a Child? Those are the proper questions to be asking.

            How Babel-17 and Designer Babies relate is the correlation of modification between the two. Babel-17 bends and manipulates your way of thought. It changes you to not really be you anymore. Creating a Designer Baby has the same affect but on a physical level.  It doesn’t even give the natural baby a chance. Also, both stem from an idea of betterment.  Yes, Babel-17 is a language that turns you into something you’re not but if everyone spoke it there would be no wars. The same motif of betterment is true in Designer Babies. We are enhancing humans faster than evolution ever could. We are playing god.

            But at what price? Where does that leave the poor and the middle class? It affectively absolves the pursuit of happiness from the Declaration of Independence. With the advancements in science and technology Designer Babies will soon have pretty insane options. But are they still humans? Is it the end of an era? Only time will tell.