It’s hard to reconcile the world we live in with the tantalizing possibilities at the edge of human endeavour.
Imagine a world, maybe not far off, where you get a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and your surgeon tells you that you can either have the old surgery – get half or more of your colon removed, and the ends stitched together – or they can grow you a new colon and put that in, and you can go on with your life.
Imagine going into the hospital with chest pains and by the time you’re admitted and diagnosed with an actual heart attack they have a new heart and valve set printed up and ready to go based on your own cells.
Imagine, further, going down to the laser eye clinic and getting them to upgrade your vision to add UV so you can monitor your exposure and, heck, while you’re at it, add infrared so I can see moose on the road at night.
That’s the world, at least at the edges. It’s hard to grasp.