Uplifting is the act of enhancing or engineering a non-sapient creature into sapience.
In sci-fi settings, uplifting is typically the work of bioengineering (such as tinkering with genetics before birth), cybernetics (upgrading the brain with computer processing), or even more advanced post-birth nanoviruses (which modify the genetic code post-birth).
In fantastical settings, uplifts are typically the work of natural magics, fey spirit gifts, or mad wizard experimentations. Of course, with magic, almost anything can be uplifted: Want to bring a clock to life? Be our guest.
Ethics[]
"Oh sure. Get a job, right? Because companies are dying to hire an adult half-hippo man with literally zero education. You know how much rent is in this city? Especially for a place with high ceilings, wide hallways, and preferably a tub?" --Hippo, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6
The concept of creating sapient life varies between comedy and serious discussion. On one hand, it is amusing to imagine the intelligent raccoons of Fedorov road forming a coalition and building a society. On the other hand, their existence as intelligent but not living up to their potential is a tragedy, and reflects the worry that the common worker might feel.
Uplifting has countless parallels with the ethics of machine intelligence, but with slight variations. Uplifts are guided by their evolutionary background, natural instincts, and biological quirks (for instance, some may have stress atavism), whereas AIs are guided by the ethics and programming their programmers had--and their mistakes.
In Transhuman Space[]
The advanced bio-tech in the world of THS has resulted in a whole lot of peculiar intelligent creatures. They're created as companions, experiments, curiosities, and even soldiers.[1] Most of the world treats uplifts as animals (albeit clever, highly regulated "exotic" ones). The South African Coalition, Pacific Rim Alliance and Transpacific Socialist Alliance (TSA) have much fewer regulations on creating uplifts, although normal laws (regarding owning dangerous animals and animal cruelty) still apply.
As all uplifts are relatively recent, the oldest uplifted animals are only about 30 years old, "children of the 2070s".
Rights[]
Uplifted animals are considered animals in almost every faction in the setting, save for the European Union (which allows second-class citizenship, somewhat like conservatorship) and transhumanist microstates.[2]
Mentions[]
- Some of the first "practical" uplifts appear to be sea life uplifts in 2072, created by GenTech to help construct the massive shallow-water habitat Elandra.[3][4]
- There are many uplifted creatures in the luxury theme park of High Arcadia. They seem to believe they are indeed living in mythic Greece.[5]
- The skirmishes at Exogenesis Station have sent many of the space-adapted Astropus fleeing to transhumanist settlements, such as New Covenant Station (see NC-HEism).
Examples[]
- The Ganesh[6] is an intelligent Asian elephant. They are called Ganeshes everywhere except South Asia, where the name is considered offensive, and are simply called "uplifted elephants". [7]They are about 7,400 lbs[8] and cost about $351,000 to produce. Due to their recent introduction in 2081, the absolute oldest Ganesh clones are a mere 20 years old, and will likely live to 80 years or more.
In Horror[]
"You should see our next project, it's called the Hubrisaurus. We taught it how to use a gun!" -- half-remembered Rifftrax covering Jurassic Park
Incomplete uplifts can turn into horror when combining predatory or territorial behavior with a near-human cleverness. Even incidental intelligence (not quite an uplift) from bioengineering can produce a creature that's just smart enough to open doors.
References[]
- Mentioned as TL10 in Basic Set: Campaigns, p.512
- Bio-Tech, p.86
- ↑ Transhuman Space, p.78
- ↑ Transhuman Space, p.127
- ↑ Transhuman Space, p.14
- ↑ Transhuman Space, p.33
- ↑ Transhuman Space, p.39
- ↑ Fifth Wave, p.120
- ↑ Fanon: Or perhaps a shorter nickname of such
- ↑ An average for a regular Asian elephant