Chinese government tells people what they can watch on TV

[Treesh]

I wonder if we would evolve to a state where other "things" became important to us, and our brains coped by creating a "desire" for said objectives. Interesting.

You mention evolving, but really evolution comes about because of all those little mistakes that crop up during reproduction. There are still errors that crop up in just regular cellular reproduction on a day to day basis, but there's not as much opportunity for real change there since you aren't adding in new DNA for the possibilities of really new "features", so evolution would change as well. Probably just slower, not as drastic.

Since I just cannot conceive of me EVER wanting power just for the sake of power, in any scenario, I simply just don't think we would default to that.

I did not account for this in my daydream whatsoever. I had just felt everyone feels this way, which is why people play video-games, so they can gain power over something in the game world - from clothing to money to magic, in all games, you start off equal, and amas power and/or win in some, thus the true nature of "games" is exposed. Perhaps you play games purely for the social aspect, something I hadn't considered. My wife is like that; not a power-hungry bone in her body, always wanting to go with the crowd, but still has her own opinion.

I generally play games just to see what happens, how things develop. I play games the same way I live my life. The old corny line of "Life is a journey, not a destination" basically sums things up for me. I really don't care if there's an Ultimate Meaning or an Ultimate End State. I happen to think there isn't one besides maybe propagation of the species, and even that really doesn't seem like an ultimate purpose to me. I just like seeing what's around the corner, what happens next. Although, currently, I do have a toon in RIFT who I'm having a complete blast with because she's a total monster when it comes to destroying AI-controlled enemies, but she still gets whomped in PvP right now because I'm just not really a PvPer at heart. I don't have to have the best gear, the best spec. I'm just putting in time before the end so I may as well enjoy what I have while I still can. =)

Edit: In WoW I do remember always striving for better gear for Mogo, striving to be better, but that was just to make sure that I had enough power to get the job done and I considered "the job" to be making sure that the folks in the guild had the opportunities to achieve all the things they wanted to do. It's why I would farm for other people, but wouldn't for myself. It's why I would, if I was online, jump to go help folks trying to get achievements they couldn't do alone. So, my quest for power was really to just have enough power to get the job done. That's probably where my skill-less amazon and naked trap assassin got their start - just how much power do you really need to finish the game? How much do you need in life before you're actually happy? It's the same thing to me which is probably why I'm happy just living off of $800 a month (cheap cost of living down here =D ). I've got what I need so there's no big reason, no big push to get more, although I do always -want- things like new computer parts, new games, etc. but they are still just a want so it doesn't bug me if I have to wait for it. /edit

[sex]...

Yes, I agree that in our initial stages of development with this new way of living, it would be sexual debauchery to the extreme, because really, what else would there be? But after eons of evolution, I doubt this would be a concern. Focus would shift as our brains adapted (see my first reply in this post) and other objectives would become meaningful in the way food, taste, and sex are now to us.

Debauchery has negative connotations with it. *wags her finger*

What's the difference between enjoying sex and enjoying sports or other physical activities? Folks enjoy working out or playing pick up games with their buddies, but they don't (usually) go so far as to do it to the exclusion of everything else. Why wouldn't sex end up being the same way? Although really, all the other changes grab my imagination more than the sex part. I just thought it interesting that non-sexual reproduction equates to doing away with the physical act itself completely for some people. Then again, maybe I'm just a "pervert" at heart.

I really, really wonder just how that would affect music and paintings and writings. How much does just the struggle to survive impact the arts and our thoughts, ideals, morals?

Wow, this is getting deep. Alright, I imagine as our brains evolved, these things might become intrinstic to our very natures, that art might evolve into what we do, how we express ourselves, what we become. Energy patterns, light, thoughts. Even the way we record media would surly be altered in this alter-reality.

I immediately thought of a Metalocalypse episode where they record their music onto water instead of the regular media. =)

I do find it interesting that you still see evolution occurring on the same scale as it does now, although maybe I'm just inferring that you think it would be on the same scale. The critters that asexually reproduce really haven't evolved much because the mechanism for evolution doesn't have as many opportunities to come up with new combinations so I don't know just how much things would change after the magical slate cleaning occurs.

Edit2: Here's an interesting read that rather fits in with this discussion on human behavior once we get everyone with the same biological start. Parasites that affect the brain chemistry could be a noticeable influence if there was a wide enough infestation. Buddy of mine showed me this link and it just fit into this conversation so well. =)