In this blog post, we’ll examine the lives of engineered humans and natural humans as depicted in the movie ‘Gattaca’ and consider whether the introduction of engineered humans could lead to human progress and happiness.
The movie “Gattaca” features both engineered humans and “naturals” who live as they were born. The protagonist, “Vincent,” a natural, has a weak heart and lags behind the engineered humans around him in every respect. To fulfill his dream of becoming an astronaut, he buys the DNA of “Jerome,” who was born as an engineered human, and begins living in the body of an engineered human. Ultimately, Vincent realizes his dream of becoming an astronaut through his own will and passion, even in the body of a genetically engineered human. In this film, “naturals” are marginalized and discriminated against as “unqualified,” while genetically engineered humans are portrayed as superior beings—dominating the workforce as “qualified” individuals. While most people might think the life of a genetically engineered human is better, I believe it is better to live as a “natural.”
There are also people who hold different views on this film than I do. Their argument can be summarized in the following sentence: “If customized humans put in the same effort as natural humans, they can become perfect humans and bring about progress in the human world.”
Their first argument is that the introduction of customized humans enables disease-free longevity, thereby driving progress. However, I believe this argument is flawed. Will a disease-free, long life necessarily lead to progress in the human world? Let’s first examine this from an economic perspective. As human lifespans increase, the proportion of the elderly in the total population will rise. No matter how “custom-made” these elderly people may be, their productivity could decline significantly, which means the costs borne by the young will increase. Furthermore, since everyone is born with the same capabilities, competition for jobs will become fiercer, raising concerns that unemployment will become a serious problem. Some assume that these problems will all be solved in the future, but I believe this assumption is flawed. Issues related to the elderly and unemployment have existed for a very long time and remain unresolved to this day; there is no guarantee they will be solved simply because it is the future. There are also problems from an anthropological perspective: not everyone wants to live a long life. For example, if an elderly person has no job and no suitable leisure activities to enjoy, yet is so healthy that they cannot die, they would be forced to continue living a life of boredom. Can this be called progress? I do not think so.
Furthermore, if passion is combined with the bodies of customized humans, one might expect the emergence of “perfect humans.” But would it really be easy for customized humans to possess the same passion as natural humans? Natural humans are innately deficient in many areas compared to others, but they also have specific strengths. Based on my own experience and the lives of those around me, I’ve found that in most cases, people lose motivation in areas where they aren’t good—even if they’re interested—while they tend to take an interest and develop passion in areas where they excel. Armed with this firmly established passion, they pursue that field and build upon it through competition. However, the situation is different for engineered humans. They are born genetically engineered to excel in countless fields, and many of the people around them are equally capable in everything. This effectively eliminates one of the major reasons people develop passion. While “custom-made humans” may still possess passion, it is difficult for it to surpass the passion of “natural humans” for this very reason. Therefore, I believe this second argument is also flawed.
In the latter half of the movie ‘Gattaca’, the protagonist “Vincent” ultimately defeats his younger brother “Anton” in a swimming race. As a “natural human,” he surpassed the abilities of a “custom-made human.” The source of that ability is Vincent’s mental fortitude and passion. The core of my argument is that, because a genetically engineered human cannot match the passion of a natural human, the natural human will ultimately become the best in that field. The joy of approaching the limits of human capability with unwavering will and passion is a noble value that cannot be exchanged for anything else. Of course, in the short term, a natural human will feel far inferior and left behind. However, the moment they find a field they are passionate about, develop an interest in it, and begin to make progress within it, the “custom-made human” will be unable to keep up with the natural person’s rate of growth. Ultimately, it is the natural person—who has worked tirelessly—who will have the last laugh. Right now, I, like most people, would probably want to be a “custom-made human.” But if you give your all to your work and push yourself to your limits, you will realize that this way of thinking is completely wrong.
I argue that “custom-made humans” should not be introduced, citing the issues of the aging population and unemployment, as well as the fact that “custom-made humans” cannot possess the same passion as “natural humans.” Although I did not mention this earlier, my argument is further supported by the fact that introducing “custom-made humans” could lead to the standardization of everyone’s physical appearance, resulting in a loss of identity, and could also raise ethical concerns since parents would be determining their children’s genes. Depending on their mindset, a “custom-made human” is no better than a natural human. It is precisely because we are natural humans—not custom-made humans—that we are able to burn with passion. Let us all, like “Vincent,” draw on our will and passion to do our very best in our respective fields. Then, a brighter future will unfold.
