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Submitted via IRC for BoyceMagooglyMonkey
23andMe has reached a deal with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline, giving the company access to their (your) genetic data to potentially develop new drugs. Did they just sell us all out? Not exactly.
This isn't the first deal where 23andMe has allowed companies to use their (your) data for their research. The company makes up to $199 when you buy one of their spit kits and send in your DNA, but their business model has always depended on leveraging the data they amass as a result. The company has previously made similar, though smaller, deals with Genentech and Pfizer.
[...] The company doesn't technically hand over your data; analysts at 23andMe provide "summary statistics" to third parties. This is relatively safe, in theory, but if you're not sure how you feel about it, just click "Change Consent" under your account settings.
Source: https://vitals.lifehacker.com/what-you-re-really-agreeing-to-when-you-sign-up-for-23a-1828034397
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 06 2018, @05:13PM (4 children)
Maybe we didn't read the same Sci-Fi. Dune was all about a dystopian inter-stellar society. Foundation all about a dark age, and a possible map through that age to a new age of enlightenment. 1984? That would be utopia for police state fanatics - at least until the fanatics learn that they aren't among the elite.
Besides - if you ever did discover Utopia, or Paradise, or whatever you want to call it, all you need to do to fuck it up is introduce some humans.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 06 2018, @05:26PM
That I already realize. I would merely point out an old testament quote from Jeremiah.
I had much more limited exposure at a young impressionable age. I did read 1984 and Brave New World in high school, and some other sci fi. Maybe I only think of the stories I liked, or only selectively like the parts that seem like a world that would be worth living in. I started Foundation in the mid 80's but got interrupted and never got back to it. Once I saw how large of a project it was, I wondered if I could invest the time. From what I had read, I thought it would make a great franchise of movies. And that seems to be what Hollywood wants these days. Not a single, stand alone movie, with an actual ending.
Yes, I definitely realize that outside of fiction, there is no utopia. At least not in this mortal life.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Monday August 06 2018, @05:29PM (1 child)
I would also point out that Soylent Green is made from all natural ingredients.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday August 06 2018, @07:06PM
would also point out that Soylent Green is made from all natural, Tastes like Pork, ingredients. Mmmmmmmm, pork.
FTFY!
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @06:27PM
Personally, I feel the Culture in Iain M. Banks' books is a pretty good candidate for a plausible Utopian society. It of course has its own set of conflict and political and societal problems (otherwise it wouldn't be proper sci-fi) but overall I don't think I could imagine a better place to live. That is, if you're content with machines managing most of society and acting as friendly benevolent dictators.
I found the optimism a refreshing change from all the dystopias and doom-and-gloom pervading all of today's storytelling.
Yeah human's suck. We get it. No need to rub it in. No need to wallow in despair. No need to assume we cannot change ourselves to be better than that, given enough time and effort.