Sunday Musings about Genetic Modification and our Abundant Future

Last year, I made a presentation about our unsustainable treatment of animals and plants. One of my concerns was the possibility of turning the Earth into a bacteria-governed cemetery of the human civilization. Now, I see that my concern was totally ungrounded!

Thanks to the Genetic Modification (GM), we have the technology to interbreed with that same bacteria that is thriving on chemical waste. Apparently, for now, we are only eating the mixed-breed children of these bacteria. But a human body is 90% bacteria, bacteria with their own DNA and their own ways of life. How do these guys welcome the arrival of the chemical-waste bacteria DNA? Interesting question...
There is evidence that this new DNA stays with us. What does it do without its favourite chemical waste meal? Maybe we should add a serving of RoundUp to our daily vitamin supplement. And then the future of the pollution is not so much of a problem - eventually, we'll just eat it :)
This was my evidence-based but far-fetched conclusion set-up for an upcoming science fiction novel.
P.S. I am surprised that a substantial portion of my superficial thinking was elaborated by other scientists, see for example here.

Image courtesy of https://alternativeeating.wordpress.com

Keep breaking your heart until it opens

"Keep breaking your heart until it opens" - I have read this quote some time ago and it has risen an immediate disagreement with me. Why should anyone break their heart - on purpose? Isn't it plain stupid? Isn't a broken heart just a consequence of stupid actions, unjustified beliefs, and eventually a plain rejection of the reality?
I kept the image with the quote on my cellphone, partially as a reminder that at least someone thinks that such stupidity has some benefit in it. Well, someone also said that we learn from our mistakes, but somehow a "broken heart" category seems to be hard to learn from. Despite our beliefs about classifications, situations and people are so different that it is hard to generalise.
And now I am reading Pema Chodron, and she gives such a beautiful answer: A "..broken heart.." is "..our link with all those who have ever loved". Indeed, here's the meaning, here's why it is not a loss, not a stupidity. You may lose one person but connect with everyone who suffers. Pain, loss, grief - these experiences are not unique. Thousands of people are suffering right now. If you are suffering yourself, you are not alone. You are just a part of this universe, where joy and sorrow are just present.
“The experience of being free of fixed mind often happens because of trauma or crisis,” says Pema Chodron. And this is another gift of a tragedy. It is that moment when the perceptions fall and life remains just as it is: momentous, unglorified, uncertain.
“When you feel bad, let it be your link to others’ suffering. When you feel good, let it be your link with others’ joy.”(Pema Chodron).