We adjust - I wandered into a conversation recently regarding the advances in creating fertilizable eggs from male cells.

Quite often lately I am hearing people disturbed by where technology and research are taking us.

I'll be frank. We haven't mastered fire yet, and that never stopped us, so why be upset at these further advances? Seriously - technology has been moving forward and changing our lives ever since the human race can remember. And we adjust. Life is not the same as it was 3K years ago, but we have adjusted.

Yes, we can argue about the social impact of science and technology. We ought to, and we ought to contemplate what upcoming changes mean to us and our descendants. But the tenor of these discussions is usually more like "I'm afraid of where we're going." and "we're deviating from the plan when we mess with these things."

Me? I'm afraid of where we are now. Let's deal with that a little bit. Or, let's learn to accept that, as a species, we change ourselves, our society, and our environment through the accumulation of knowledge and the creation of technology. Deal with it - and don't take that in a mean-spirited way.

As for "the plan" - if I believe there is a plan, then I believe this is all part of it. If I believe in a universe with no plan, then that particular problem goes away. So, no worries!