Would Replicants have a soul . . .

[Xru]

What desert?

So Adrift likes to deadpan (no pun intended) like SoyMan . . . okay I get it . . . finally.

[Cow Poke]

So Adrift likes to deadpan (no pun intended) like SoyMan . . . okay I get it . . . finally.

Only, Adrift has CLASS, and does not shameless promote gelatinous tasteless bean byproducts as edible food.

[Adrift]

I haven't seen the movie in awhile but I sort of got the impression that the parts were grown in labs and then assembled.

Yeah maybe so. I don't think they go into it too much other than the eyeball lab and the serial numbers on the snake scales...

[Sparko]

would God be mad?

don't know. I guess i would depend on how we treated the clones and what we did with them. We would still be working with the raw material that God created, and I don't see making a clone that much different from artificial insemination. I think that as long as we treated them as full human beings and not as slaves or something to be experimented on or with, that God would not be mad.

[Cow Poke]

Yeah maybe so. I don't think they go into it too much other than the eyeball lab and the serial numbers on the snake scales...

Maybe I was a wee bit premature in declaring that Adrift has CLASS.

[Tanakh Keeper]

This question has always intrigued me. Can replicants have a soul (replicants along the line of those in Blade Runner).

Although it seems credible to argue that no, they would not and could not have souls, the character Batty, in one of the closing and most famous scenes of the movie, saves Deckhard's life. It is an extremely moving and effective scene. In this scene and in others the replicants seem to be even more human than many of the cynical humans that are their masters.

No. Only G-d can give souls. Our creations, while they might be a facsimile of G-d's creation (i.e. us), are only a facsimile. We might program them to have emotions, but humans can't create souls.

[Cow Poke]

No. Only G-d can give souls. Our creations, while they might be a facsimile of G-d's creation (i.e. us), are only a facsimile. We might program them to have emotions, but humans can't create souls.

This is what I believe, but not sure if I believe it because I want to, or because it's the way it is.

[Xru]

would God be mad? don't know. I guess i would depend on how we treated the clones and what we did with them. We would still be working with the raw material that God created, and I don't see making a clone that much different from artificial insemination. I think that as long as we treated them as full human beings and not as slaves or something to be experimented on or with, that God would not be mad.

Ya . . . okay. I can see that.

Now what about the replicants . . . conceivably we could treat them better than the Tyrell corporation and judicial system in the BR, hopefully, so the alternatives . .. and I'm serious about understanding this through conversation with you'll 'cause sooner or later I think it's gonna happen:
1) we treat the replicants/clones nice and we get along
2) we treat the replicants/clones nice and they resent being an industrial creation with all the psychological stuff that goes along with that
3) we treat the replicants/clones okay but treat them like a distinct class with less rights and constitutional protection
4) we treat the replicants/clones like property in that they have no legal rights or recourse or constitutional protection
5) we treat them like 1) but give them fake memories or otherwise screw with their brains and then they find out about it.

I would think 1) great but rather improbable, 2) more likely, 3) maybe most probable with would lead to big trouble, 4) less likely but with even bigger problems like a replicants/clone rebellion like BFG.

I hate any option but 1).

What do ya'll think.

Anyone know of any court rulings about what the rights of a cloned human would be. Or are we waiting for a court case to have precedents set.

[Xru]

No. Only G-d can give souls. Our creations, while they might be a facsimile of G-d's creation (i.e. us), are only a facsimile. We might program them to have emotions, but humans can't create souls.

I hate to ask this . . .but . . how do you know this? I remember the Tower of Babel as a warning sort of to NOT attempt technological things we are not meant to have. Is there other sources that would illuminate this problem for us?

[Cow Poke]

would God be mad?

don't know. I guess i would depend on how we treated the clones and what we did with them. We would still be working with the raw material that God created, and I don't see making a clone that much different from artificial insemination. I think that as long as we treated them as full human beings and not as slaves or something to be experimented on or with, that God would not be mad.

Seriously, the two sinister applications I have heard about (I have a friend who is in the cloning program at Texas A&M, but they don't do human research or cloning, of course) is for harvesting body parts (hearts, livers, lungs, etc..) and for sex slaves.

[Xru]

This is what I believe, but not sure if I believe it because I want to, or because it's the way it is.

I'm not sure and this makes me very . . . uncomfortable. The creation of a human(s) I think is or will be very bad. Things will get out of hand .. . slave labor, exploitation, "recreation models."

And I suppose it will be up to each country to make the laws . .. what if N. Korea got the technology and grew a 10,000,000 genetically enhanced army?

I see nothing but catastrophe in this.

[Xru]

for sex slaves.

Texas A&M is doing research for sex slaves? You're joking . . .

[Cow Poke]

I'm not sure and this makes me very . . . uncomfortable. The creation of a human(s) I think is or will be very bad. Things will get out of hand .. . slave labor, exploitation, "recreation models."

I was already uncomfortable when they were talking about cloning ANIMALS for food, and could just see the dilema coming, knowing that somebody would eventually attempt to clone a human being.

And I suppose it will be up to each country to make the laws . .. what if N. Korea got the technology and grew a 10,000,000 genetically enhanced army?

I actually was at a panel discussion about human cloning at A&M, and one of the questions dealt with the free will of the cloned human. Would they have the capacity to say, "hey, this is WRONG", or... would they just be programmed to accept orders as part of who they are and why they are.

I see nothing but catastrophe in this.

Yeah, but I'm a prude.

[Cow Poke]

Texas A&M is doing research for sex slaves? You're joking . . .

On such a serious topic, I would think you'd not be so flippant or misrepresentative of what I said.

Did you overlook the part where I said...

but they don't do human research or cloning

[Xru]

Yeah, but I'm a prude.

I don't think so. I think you are prudent and have common sense.