Genetically altering people to be happy?
I heard something on the news previews this morning that really disturbed me. I can't find an article to support it, but they mentioned that rats had been genetically altered to be more happy and that it had some sort of application toward humans. Now, it was one of those teaser things, so I honestly don't know the "application" mentioned. However, I can't help but think of "The End of the Whole Mess" by Stephen King where the guy came out with something to make people happy and non-aggressive and put it in the water. Years later they found out it caused Alzheimers in everybody who drank the water. The thought of being genetically altered to be Happy Humans really disturbs me. Sure, it would be nice if less people were Prozac and similar drugs, but I'm sure there are better ways to deal with it.
Ick.
Ick.
3 Comments:
At 11:18 AM,
Amy said…
*shiver*
This can't be a good idea...
At 12:19 PM,
Karen said…
I remember when Prozac first came out. It was being referred to as happiness in pill form. The SSRIs were supposed to be THE ultimate way to happiness. Turns out they aren't as problem free as they led everyone to believe.
Happiness is something you create for yourself and work for. It's not a constant state of mind. It's not NORMAL to be happy all the time. Although if you watch enough TV commercials, you'll convince yourself that everyone is just jumping for joy all the time--even when they're mopping their floors, lol...
Genetically altering humans to be happy would be a disaster! It would strip the humanity out of being human. How can you appreciate happiness if you never experience sadness?
At 10:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
I'm catching up on your blog, Mindy. How funny that we should both think of the same story about that article!
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