1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm truly decklass Julie 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: who is not dreamed of either having wings themselves or 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: just dreams of winged humanoids flying about. I mean, it's 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: the stuff of just ancient myth, the stuff of fantasy, 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: the stuff of religion, the stuff of of art. It's 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: there's something just irresistible about the idea of a human 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: with the wings of a bird, or even the wings 10 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: of a bat. Yeah. The desire to fly, I think 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: is pretty universal. Even Dorothy from oz right somewhere of 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: the rainbow, bluebirds fly, birds fly over the rainbow? Why then, 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: oh why can't I Yeah, we're just singing the rest, Okay, 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: But yeah, one example that always comes to my mind. 15 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: I mean, there are a lot of a iconic ones. Obviously, 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: the myth of Icarus and Datalus is big. The idea 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: that you know, they built these wings and then they 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: fly too close to the sun and then they plummet. 19 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: It's just a fantastic metaphor for so much in human endeavor, 20 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: human technology, um humans reaching to achieve things that they 21 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: were not necessarily biologically gifted with, but via their intelligence, 22 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,119 Speaker 1: are in a sense genetically gifted with. I also think 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: back to a book called Goodbye to All That by 24 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: Robert Graves, British author who famously wrote I Claudius Um. 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: That's probably what he's most known for, But this was 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: his biography and he was talking about his um, his 27 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: service in World War One. There's a bit about mountain 28 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: climbing in that as well, because he was one of 29 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: these just really adventurous dudes. He'd go out with his 30 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: his pals and they would scale these these towering cliffs. 31 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: And there was one point where he's talking about, you know, 32 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: clinging to the side of this this rock face. Uh, 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: you know, pretty to someone like me, who is not 34 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: a mountain climber and will never mountain climb, terrifying idea, 35 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: just to imagine myself clinging to the side of a 36 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: mountain face. Uh. But he was unfazed. But he was 37 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: an adventuest dude, had bravery and just a natural inclination 38 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: for this kind of thing. But one time he said, 39 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: they're scaling, they're they're a little tired clinging to the side, 40 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: and a bird like sort of flow flies by, but 41 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: given the altitude and the wind, kind of floats out 42 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: there to the side, and and he entered the house 43 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: just so unnerving. The idea that it was like the 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: bird was was coaxing him into letting go, as if 45 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: there was another way, as if he could fly, which 46 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,959 Speaker 1: which also gets into these weird impulses we sometimes have 47 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: of almost like self destructive impulses. The the idea that, oh, 48 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: if I get too close to the edge of the building, 49 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 1: I might jump off, I was to say, because I 50 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: have that. So even if I meant to say, like 51 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: a fairly like simple structure like a mall on the 52 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: second floor, I don't want to go to the edge 53 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: because I feel as if I'm going to plunge off. 54 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,399 Speaker 1: So it's kind of interesting that there's this idea of him, 55 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: you know, clinging to the side and this bird short 56 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: of mocking him to the limits of his own morphology. 57 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 1: Hey dude, you're never going to have wings. You might 58 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: consure this cool that you can you know, rock climb 59 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: up here, but you know, let me just buzz around 60 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: you and remind you of this. Yeah, it's like, in 61 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: a sense, we see the birds flying and we we 62 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: inded it, and we feel to a certain extent like 63 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,119 Speaker 1: it's our birthright because vast empty air, vast heights are 64 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: terrifying because we know that that's a limitation to us. 65 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: We know that those are those are heights that we 66 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: cannot really ascend to. Yes, we there, you know. We 67 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: we have airplanes at our disposal. We have various uh 68 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: methods of flight and gliding and skydiving and everything, but 69 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: they're all kind of cheap imitations of the natural biological 70 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: gifts of a bird. That's right, We're greedy. We want 71 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: it for ourselves. It's not enough that we have created 72 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: flight in the form of jets and planes and uh, 73 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: you know, various other modes of transportation. So the question, 74 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: and the question for this podcast is is it would 75 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: it be possible? Is it really possible that we could 76 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: somehow create wings for ourselves? Um? And I'm not talking 77 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: just like strapping on some wings, because there are wingsuits 78 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: which are phenomenal. There's actually an article on them on 79 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com that I wrote how wingsuits 80 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: work and it's phenomenal technology and the people who use 81 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: them are insane and also highly skilled. Um. But yeah, 82 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: could we actually have biological wings that are a part 83 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: of us, that are an extension of us. Right, could 84 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: we gain our bodies in our minds in order to 85 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: actually have this be a part of our own morphology? 86 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: And why not? Right, because we've talked about this, this 87 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: is this is not so crazy. I mean, it's absolutely 88 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: out there. But there are so many different ways that 89 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: we have augmented our reality in our physicality that uh, 90 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: no doubt one day this could be a possibility. Yeah, 91 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: I mean, like you said, there's so many things we 92 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: do to our bodies. Anyway, we went into this, We've 93 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: got into this a number of times. We talked about 94 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: post humanism quite a bit, and and cybernetics. We did 95 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: an episode called the Werewolf Principle Um, which probably wasn't 96 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: the best title in the world because it doesn't have 97 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: anything to do with or wolves. It's about that. It's 98 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: a has to do with a sci fi story I 99 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: was reading at the time, But the idea that we 100 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: change our but potentially we change our bodies in order 101 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: to explore space and to explore our the world instead 102 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: of attempting to bring a portion of our atmosphere in 103 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: our environment with us. Uh and and and our limitations 104 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: with us we instead alter ourselves, and certainly we make 105 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: a lot of augmentations to ourselves anyway, So many things 106 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: such as glasses, contacts, various biomedical equipment that is added 107 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: to the human body. We're making these changes anyway for 108 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: things that are generally thought of as necessary. Um. And 109 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: then we also make changes that are cosmetic in nature. 110 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: But what about wings? Well, yeah, and in order to 111 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: actually really get to the meat of this conversation, we 112 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: have to bring up Dr Joseph Rosen. He is a 113 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: Dartmouth plastic surgeon and reconstructive surgeon. And it's um, I 114 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: think would be pretty mild just to say that he's 115 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: a futurist. Yeah, and he's definitely a UTRA, is definitely 116 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: a post humanist in a he's he's one of these 117 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: amazing individuals that if you look him up, you'll find 118 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: various articles about his work. Um. But in particular, there 119 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: was a two thousand and one UM interview slash profile 120 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: in Harper's magazine by Lawrence Slater. Highly recommend anyone read 121 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: who's fascinated by this topic. It was called Dr Dayalus. 122 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: It's an excellent article. Actually, the way that it was 123 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: written reminded me of Mary Rich in the way that 124 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: she approaches her material, so it is well worth checking out. 125 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: So with Rosen, here's the thing. He is, he's totally 126 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: steeped in his profession and he takes on something like 127 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: five hundred patients a year to do mostly reconstructive surgery, 128 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: but some plastic surgery as well. I mean, this is 129 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: someone he was an absolute expert in his field. He is, uh, 130 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: he steeped in the practicalities of it, but he was 131 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: also a big thinker. Yeah, he's a plastic surgeon, but 132 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: but not a mirror cosmetic surgeon. And the article in 133 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: question went into sort of around the turn of the 134 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: millennium where plastic surgery stood about the idea that it's 135 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: sort of sort of in this place where it's often 136 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: looked down on um by people outside of the medical profession, 137 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: and sometimes within the medical profession, may be seen as 138 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: as a as a lesser medical practice, which of course 139 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: is is not not the case when you look at 140 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: the the the non cosmetic applications. When you're looking at 141 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: people who have undergone serious injury, particularly facial injuries for instance, 142 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: and finding ways to correct that and and bring a 143 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: certain amount of normalcy back to that person's life. When 144 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: you look at cleft palate and cleft lip reconstruction. Yeah, 145 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: I mean there's there's a lot that goes on in 146 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: plastic surgery that is not breast jobs. But but that 147 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: tends to be sort of the the easy association that 148 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: people make when you just hear plastic surgeon on TV. Oh, 149 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: she went to the plastic surgeon's office. That means she 150 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: had something superficial and unnecessary done. But plastic surgery is 151 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: bigger than that, much bigger. And uh, you know, as 152 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: you had said that he has he's worked on reconstructing 153 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: faces um when died warrior causes. Right, So we're talking 154 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: about catastrophic poly trauma. So if you're in uh, if 155 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: you're a soldier and you have undergone this trauma, what 156 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: that means is that you have so many various problems 157 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: going on um that you can't necessarily, uh find a 158 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: solution to all of those injuries. But what Dr Rosen 159 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: can do is he can fashion a new knows um, 160 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,599 Speaker 1: but he can't restore that soldier's sense of smell. He 161 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: can at least give some sort of normalcy back to 162 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: that person. So that's a lot of work that he 163 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: does there. Um. He also is working on healthcare reform. 164 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: This is really interesting. This isn't the form of cybercare. 165 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: He argues that our hospital system is just uh, you know, 166 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: an outgrowth of the Civil War. In other words, it 167 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: was set up to administer to a huge amount of 168 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 1: massive casualties. And he's saying that that's just not the 169 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: way that the world works today. And he is helping 170 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 1: to revamp the national healthcare system of Vietnam using cellphones 171 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: and laptops to link clinics, hospitals, and rural physicians. So 172 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: this guy is a renaissance man. And like I said, 173 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: he's a big thinker, which is extended over to his 174 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: ideas about what we can do in terms of improving 175 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: not just augmenting, i should say, but really heightening our 176 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: senses as a human being, in augmenting our experiences as 177 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: a human being. Yeah, he's an amazing thinker. And then 178 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: he really use the cliche, you know, thinks outside the box. 179 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: He is the he's a bit of a rebel. He's 180 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: he's questioning authority and questioning sort of normal approaches to 181 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: things all the time. And you see that with with 182 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: with various gifted minds out there. You know, it's it's 183 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: not merely that they work really hard and are just 184 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: geniuses within the confines of their profession, within the confines 185 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: of their their role in society, but they actually think 186 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: beyond the typical constraint. It's true. Like, for instance, he 187 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: says that a salamander can regenerate in arm in forty 188 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: two days, So he says, somewhere in your own genome 189 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: that ability still exists. He says, why can't we go 190 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: ahead and find that figure that out so that we 191 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: can regenerate a whole limb for ourselves. And he says, 192 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: we can do it. It's just a matter of you know, 193 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,839 Speaker 1: twenty to fifty years to coming up with that. Um. So, 194 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: you know, he also looks at soldiers again who have 195 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: had those catastrophic poly traumas, and he says, why can't 196 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: we use a whole body pro thesis, like you know 197 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: that's made out of exoskeleton. Um. You know, obviously cost 198 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: as a factor in perception because it's not too it's 199 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: not too normal. They see someone trapesing through a hallway, 200 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: who's you know, in case in exo skeleton, But he's 201 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: got these ideas of how to make it work for 202 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: humans and how to, as I said, augment the experiences 203 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: for people and make it better. Yeah, he wants to 204 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: make it better. He wants to fix it. You see 205 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,160 Speaker 1: that both in in healthcare reform, as you mentioned, but 206 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,040 Speaker 1: also but more importantly, in the human body. There's a 207 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: great quote from that article that I think really sums 208 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: up a lot about Rosen's outlook on not just plastic 209 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: surgery but life. He says, you know, I'm really proud 210 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: of that face. And he's talking about some facial reconstruction 211 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: that he performed on an individual who lost a lot 212 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: of it to cancer. Because I'm really proud of that face. 213 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: I didn't follow any protocol. There's no textbook to tell 214 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: you how to fashion a face eaten away by cancer. 215 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: Plastic surgery is the intersection of art and science. It's 216 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: the intersection of the surgeon's imagination with human flesh, and 217 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: human flesh is infinitely malleable. People say cosmetic surgery is 218 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 1: frivolous boobs and noses, but it's so much more than that. 219 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: The body is a conduit for the soul, at least 220 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: historically speaking, When you change what you look like, you 221 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: change who you are so well, and it doesn't That 222 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: kind of speak to a lot of what we've talked 223 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: about in the podcast in terms of studies having to 224 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: do with psychology the whole, like you fit, you know, 225 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,439 Speaker 1: fake it till you make it, or you know, if 226 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: you assume a powerful posture, then your body responds physiological way. 227 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: So you know, a lot of what he's saying is 228 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: is there's a truth there that if you can change 229 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: yourself in that way, then certainly physically and mentally, things 230 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: will follow. Okay, so let's get into some of his 231 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 1: really fun post humanist dreams for the human body. Yeah, 232 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: because he again he's all about making the changes necessary, 233 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: arguably necessary in some cases to make us better beings. 234 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: For instance, calcular implants, uh, new rods for the eyes 235 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: to give a super binocular vision. Um soldier implants like 236 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: this was great, a nose flashlight because you know your 237 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: nose is just there. You know it's important for breathing. 238 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: But you know optics, optic technology grow smaller and smaller. 239 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: Why not have a light up there? Imagine you sort 240 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:50,839 Speaker 1: of you know, you click one nostril and then a 241 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: light shines out the other nose and you it's perfect 242 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: for reading. It's a great idea. Really, now I can 243 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: just see eight year old really having fun with that 244 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: when they blow their nose. Yeah, yeah, like light flashes, 245 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 1: like really bright light every time you sneeze. But it's 246 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: stuff like that, like when you say it, like, we're 247 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: even laughing because it's ridiculous. It's so different from what 248 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: we're used to. But Rosen is the kind of guy 249 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,439 Speaker 1: that says, no, why are you laughing? Because this is 250 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: actually really practical. Right, he's saying, in a military sense, 251 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: why wouldn't you want your soldier outfitted with this? Right? 252 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: Because it makes perfect sense. Um. Cochlear implants, of course, 253 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: are already in existence. But what he is suggesting is 254 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: that you have cochlear implants that enhance your hearing, essentially 255 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: giving us far superior auditory powers, so we'll be able 256 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: to detect things miles away, again becoming superhuman. And uh, 257 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: we've mentioned before the senses that we used to perceive 258 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: the world are in to varying degrees limited or extremely limited, 259 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: even compared to other animals. Um, you know, it's like 260 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: the mantis shrimp, which sees and all this vaster array 261 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: of colors that we can scarcely imagine. We talked about 262 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: when we're talking about bats, how it's almost impossible for 263 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: us to really imagine what it's like to to quote unquote, 264 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: see the world as a bat. So instead of being 265 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: limited by this this world that we've painted in just 266 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: a few different colors, he's saying, why don't we paint 267 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: the world in more colors? Why don't we update our 268 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,440 Speaker 1: our machinery so that we can paint a more brilliant world. 269 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: You know, that's an interesting concept to think about when 270 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: especially in the I guess in the context of how 271 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: we are bombarded with stimuli these days, and we've talked 272 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: about this and the multitasking episodes quite a bit. So 273 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: I wonder if if doing that, if sort of upping 274 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: your experience of that stimuli, would would make sense in 275 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: this sort of new world where you're getting thrown things 276 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: all the time. So if you get other words, if 277 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: you can kind of tune in a little bit more, 278 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: things are a little bit louder, things are a little 279 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: bit brighter. Does that make sense for the modern human mind? 280 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: Sort of opening ended question there, but I wanted to 281 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: point out that Rosen is also a fan of alo 282 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: location implants and fins. Fins, Yes, why not? I mean 283 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: it it comes down to a lot of you know, biomimicry. 284 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: If you want to see how to swim, look for 285 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: look at an animal that has evolved over the course 286 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: of millions and millions of years to be an incredible swimmer. 287 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: That's what you need to do. And that we do 288 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: that to a certain extent. And you're looking at the 289 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: shark skin and then adapting that into swimwear. Um. But 290 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: he's talking about taking it even even further. And of 291 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: course his pet project, his pet thought experiment. I guess 292 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: you could say surgical wings, because this is really where 293 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: his engineering brain meets his his his reconstructive brain and 294 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: brushes up against the brain of mad science, for sure. 295 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: But it is important to think of it as as 296 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: a thought experiment. Um. He is not trying to do 297 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: this or anything that we know of, uh, but but 298 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: it is a great thought experiment for just what are 299 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: you know, what are we willing to do? What can 300 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: we do? And why are we why do we feel 301 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: weird about going into some of these areas like, for instance, 302 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: so one of the examples he brings up just in 303 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: plastic surgery. And what I mean he brings it up. 304 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: He brings it up at conferences because this this dude 305 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: has been an amazing figure in plastic surgery, travels over 306 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: the world, speaks a big conferences. He's an influential character. 307 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: So he's not just his voice out on the fringe. 308 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: He's a leading figure. Um. So he brought up for instance, 309 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: you have a man walks into the surgeon's office and 310 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: he has an extra thumb. Um, he's then he is 311 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: a doctor is allowed to take that thumb off. But 312 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: but if a person comes in and says, hey, I 313 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: would like an extra thumb, then he can't. He can't 314 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: do that. That's that's just completely crazy. And nobody adds 315 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: extra thumbs to people. But he was saying that he 316 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: there was one person that who was I believe a 317 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: waiter server and had an extra thumb and it actually 318 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: aided that person in their job. This is an actual 319 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: person with the second thumb, and he was saying, well 320 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: that that was helping that person out. So yeah, why 321 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: is it beyond the pail to add extra digits? Yeah, 322 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: and then there's also the rest uh example that he 323 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: brings up. Um and this is he brought this up 324 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: when people were pressing him on the wing issue because 325 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: he'd mentioned it before, and then at a conference some 326 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: people were kind of, you know, they're a little freaked 327 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: out by this, and they're saying, would you really do that? 328 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: Would you really give somebody wings? Or would you give somebody, 329 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 1: you know, lizard skin? Would you really do any of 330 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: these crazy things? And so he's bringing up various examples 331 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: to to make his, uh, his point, And he pointed 332 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,479 Speaker 1: out that that there was a lady that he'd come 333 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: across that was in need of breast reconstruction and she 334 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: wanted blue areolas. And don't have anything to say about that, 335 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: but he said, well, you know what's wrong with that? Um? 336 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: You know what, why not if the person wants to 337 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: have blue areolas, let him have blue areolas. How is 338 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: that different from a lot of the things we did 339 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,360 Speaker 1: to our body? You know? For some reason, of all 340 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: the things that have been saying on this podcast, that's 341 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 1: the one thing that made me. But don't ask me why, um, 342 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: you know, and it's stuff like this, I think that 343 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: makes people sort of look at him a little sideways. 344 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: But the fact the matter, as I said, this is 345 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: someone who is an absolute expert in his field and 346 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: steeped in the technology. He's on the advisory panel for 347 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: the Navy as well as NASA. His insights on human 348 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: machine interfaces brought him to the attention of the Department 349 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: of Defense here in the States, and they've sought his 350 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: views on virtual reality, future warfare, and bio terrorism. So 351 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,120 Speaker 1: people want his brain. They want to know what's going 352 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: on and rumbling around in that brain is blue oriole 353 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: aerials and uh, you know, nose flashlights and surgical wings. Yeah, 354 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: because he'd gain He's one of these guys that he 355 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: thinks or sees something in the world and it's it's 356 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: like it instantly, the wheels are turning like. He doesn't 357 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: take anything for granted. He thinks about it's possible applications, 358 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: possible ways to improve it, like, for instance, with rhino plastic, 359 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: which often is you know, typically about correcting rebuilding the 360 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,119 Speaker 1: nose or or making cosmetic adjustments to the nose. But 361 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: he's saying that that hasn't even reached its full potential, 362 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: that we could we can improve upon the nose, and 363 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: then ultimately improvements that we make to the human body 364 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: need not be a surgical in nature, but a genetic 365 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: in nature. Okay, so he's talking about gaming the body 366 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: now through genetics as opposed to plastic surgery. We're getting 367 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: married eventually. Yeah. Um, Now again you have to kind 368 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: of take his perspective on a little bit if this 369 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: seems odd to you. I mean, again, here's someone who's 370 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 1: doing five D procedures a year. And keep in mind 371 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: that in two thousand and ten, Americans spent over ten 372 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: billion dollars on cosmetic surgery. So if you're in this 373 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:31,439 Speaker 1: field and you see this over and over again and 374 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: your futurist, you can't help but sit there and say, 375 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: how can I actually improve upon this process? And if 376 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: this is the way that humanity is going, why not 377 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: make it really incredible? Why not chase after the idea 378 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 1: of flight, which is something that humans you know, have 379 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: always secretly or not so secretly wanted for themselves. Yeah. 380 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: So he's at disconference again, people keep pressing him on 381 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: this issue, and finally he does answer. Because he's not 382 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: the kind of guy that's gonna not tell you exactly 383 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,159 Speaker 1: what he thinks of about a topic. He said, and 384 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: they said, would you perform this surgery on someone if 385 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: they want. Um, No, I think he's talking about wings 386 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,400 Speaker 1: in this case. Yeah, I'm just hypothetically, and we'll get 387 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: into the mechanics possible mechanics of the surgery in a 388 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: bet that he said, yes, I would. I can certainly 389 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: see why we don't devote research money to it. I 390 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,120 Speaker 1: can see why the n i H would fund work 391 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 1: on breast cancer over this. But I don't have a 392 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: problem with altering the human form. We do it all 393 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,640 Speaker 1: the time. It's only our Judeo Christian conservatism that makes 394 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: us think this is wrong. Who here doesn't try to 395 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,400 Speaker 1: send their children to the best schools in the hopes 396 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: of altering them. Who here objects to palm pilot, a 397 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: thing we we class to our bodies with which we 398 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: receive rapid electronic signals. Who here doesn't surround themselves with 399 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,919 Speaker 1: a metal shell and travel at death defying speeds. We 400 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: have always altered ourselves for beauty or for power, and 401 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: so long as we are not causing harm, what makes 402 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: us think we should stop? And again, that quote is 403 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: from the excellent article by Laurence Slater two thousand one 404 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: Harbord Magazine. Dr dayalis Um Highlight recommend everyone to check 405 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: that out. So we're going to actually close out the 406 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: this episode right here, part one of Surgical Wings, and 407 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: we're going to continue this in Surgical Wings Part two, 408 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: where we'll really get more into the nitty gritty of 409 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: how you could surgically make this uh seemingly impossible thing happen. 410 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: I like this analogy of surgery, and here we are. 411 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: We're gonna leave you guys in the middle, but we're 412 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: gonna suit tre you up in the next part, so 413 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: stay tuned for that. In the meantime, if you want 414 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: to interact with us online, reach out to us, share 415 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: your thoughts on what you've heard so far in Surgical Wings. 416 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: You can find us on Facebook and you can find 417 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: us on tumbler. We are stuff to blow your mind 418 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: and both of those, and we also have a Twitter 419 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: account where we use the handle blow the Mind and 420 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: you can always drop us a line at blow the 421 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: Mind at Discovery dot com for more on this and 422 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Does It how Stuff works dot 423 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: com