Challenges Facing New Men

The second book published by Lord Alfred Ford Wright. This is where the term "New Men" was coined, giving a name to the movement started with his first book, Zarathustra Has Not Finished Speaking.
While filled with the same flavor of arrogance and audacity as his first book, Challenges Facing New Men does have a marginally more humble and realistic tone as compared with its predecessor. That being said, the first third of the book is devoted as a rebuttal towards his critics.

Purpose

After the publication of his first book, Zarathustra Has Not Finished Speaking—which was more autobiographical—the second book by Lord Wright focused more on the prevailing issues of biological manipulation and DNA technology. He also takes on the criticisms of his pundits, especially those accusing him of "playing God" to which he replies, "Why not?"

Historical Details

Public Reaction

Reaction was similar to that of his first book, although being a sequal, it wasn't quite as shocking.

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Challenges Facing New Men

Selected Quotes:

“The fact is that the biological brain is more efficient than the mechanical one. When Nature made her first experiments with life, she chose, by process of elimination, the very best materials and fashioned them in the most efficient way. Carbon beats silicon every time.”

…

“Man once looked to the sky and envied the birds that flew with wings. He looked to the sea and envied the fish for their speed in that realm. So why not take the wings and fins for ourselves? Where is God’s patent? If He had one, I declare it null and void.”

…

My accusers have leveled what they believe is a damnable condemnation at me. They accuse me of "playing God" and "tampering with the natural order" to which I reply, "Why not?" I say it is well time we break that monopoly. After all, according to most of you religious, God didn't do such a great job the first time around. Don't many of you go around saying we need salvation and that human beings are mostly depraved? On the seventh day, you say God rested, and we never are told of an eighth. Maybe God never came out of retirement. So again I say, "Why not?" Why not let us have a crack at it? I believe we can do better.

“The accusation that the New Humans are a fascist plot to take over the world is nothing more than the ludicrous ravings of a jealous, paranoid and purist vocal minority. We are not Nazis. The Nazis were obsessed with the notion of a pure genetic stock. We are under no such illusion—just the opposite…
The movement to endow humanity with the blessings of genetic enhancement is freely available to all! We do not exclude nor dictate what enhancements belong to an informed and free society.”

…

“I reject the notion that the New Humans Movement is Social Darwinism. As mentioned previously, the idea that certain people are naturally better than others and thus deserve more wealth and prosperity is abhorrent to me. If anything, the New Humanity is about leveling the playing field—filling in the holes that our flawed and inadequate genes have left incomplete. In a generation, we have cured cancer, adapted to global climate change with better equipped flora and fauna, reintroduced extinct species, and extended the lifespan of any human being without such nonsense as racial discrimination. I believe in the separation of genetics and social structures. Give all humanity the tools to be better, healthier, and more productive.”

…
…

“Evolution is a system of trial and error—usually resulting much more in error, which the hand of Nature dealt with accordingly. So we must be honest with the challenges of our task. Mistakes will be made. But from our mistakes, lessons will be learned…”

Annotation: Here, Lord Wright makes the first known reference to the incorrectable genetic mutations known today as Mutants (ssp. mutata)

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Type

Text, Philosophical

Authors

• Lord Alfred Ford Wright