Neuroengineering The Future

"The fact of the matter is that the body is made for one thing and one thing only. It is a conduit for genetic material. Our current governess, evolution, does not operate at the level of the individual; it cares not a whit for him or her. Its aims are not our aims, its goals not ours. If we are to be happy, truly happy, if we are to think great thoughts and not thoughts about aches, pains, itches, and mortgages, if we are to discover the laws that govern the Universe, what it is made of, and not merely be shot around like a pinball from life event to life event, we must, to some extent, subvert these very laws. We must take nature by the throat rather than vice versa."

- Neuroengineering The Future by Bruce F. Katz

Capacity

"No Kevin," Judy said quietly. "You talk about the capacity for evil, but that's just an excuse. Human nature is not about the extremes that a few people go to; it's defined by the way that people work hard every day to keep within reasonable bounds, no matter how hard that is. It's the way people can become so annoyed with each other they want to shout and hit and fight but, even so, they don't. They sit down and talk, no matter how hard that might be. You see human nature every time an exhausted mother is so frustrated by her child's crying that she wants to lash out, but instead takes a deep breath and starts rocking the child to sleep again. Everyone has a capacity for evil; that has been the excuse used by all the worthless leaders throughout history to up the ante for their own ends. Don't tell me about the capacity for evil; tell me how you resist it and act to be a good honest person"
Tony Ballantyne - Capacity p350