Comments on: Speaking Collars and Wonder Clones

By: My Two Recent Science In My Fiction Posts « MG Ellington's Slice of Life

My Two Recent Science In My Fiction Posts « MG Ellington's Slice of Life — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:11:36 +0000

[...] entries. We love lively discussion. Let me know what you think. I also had one go up on July 23rd, Speaking Collars and Wonder Clones. It was a bit more personal than you are likely to find from me over there [...]

By: Patricia Esposito

Patricia Esposito — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:33:44 +0000

When you write about all the personal knowledge of your pet, the idiosyncrasies, the habits, the communication that develops between pet and owner, I can’t see cloning as anything but creating something different. The genetics might create some similar traits, mild-mannered vs. aggressive, but I’d like to think that the animal we knew and loved cannot ever be duplicated. I’m so sorry for your loss.

By: Rachel Green

Rachel Green — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:32:10 +0000

Good post. I hesitate to write pets as they generally die during the novel. We have a Shepherd that is prone to seizures. We know he won’t make old bones.

By: Katey

Katey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:19:24 +0000

That is uncanny timing– I’m sorry to hear about Biddy. My family just had a similar experience with our lovely black Labrador, and– yeah. Still sad every time I step into the parents’ house.

I think Julia has it, too. It can never be the same. But that won’t stop people trying, of course. (Unless you want to train the dog as a Mentat, and don’t expect to be the same. You know, like the 2901541 Duncan Idahos. :/)

By: Terri-Lynne

Terri-Lynne — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:53:53 +0000

A moving tribute to your darling Biddy.

I think Julia has the right idea of it–cloning doesn’t bring the beloved pet (or person) back. It’s like taking a picutre of a picture–each one is going to be blurrier, less true, until all you have left is a splotch that might or might not be deciferable.

By: Julia Rachel Barrett

Julia Rachel Barrett — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:38:51 +0000

Oops! Meant – whose to say!

By: Julia Rachel Barrett

Julia Rachel Barrett — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:38:16 +0000

I’m sorry about Biddy. We lost our German shepherd quite suddenly a month ago. He was my very best friend in the entire world and this was an enormous blow. Yes, I have three kids and a wonderful husband, but my dog was my dog and he was a great dog.
I joked about cloning him, but the truth is, even a cloned animal could never replace him and who’s to day what cloning means in terms of an animal’s personality or even, dare I say it, soul.
We are all born and we die. The two things living beings have in common.

By: Kenneth Mark Hoover

Kenneth Mark Hoover — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:38:11 +0000

As always another great essay. I liked this one quite a bit.

By: Joyce Chng

Joyce Chng — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:33:48 +0000

I am sincerely sorry for the loss of Biddy. The pain of losing a pet is always heart-deep, intense.

*hugs*

By: Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:13:25 +0000

Condolences on losing Biddy. We had to let go three over the past several years, to congestive heart failure, lung cancer, and (the last almost one year ago) kidney failure. They do communicate their needs, even and especially, as our vet told us, when it is time to let go; to let go when they themselves are letting go.

Cloning is interesting, but it almost distracts from the related issue of personality and genetics. As you and Athena of course note, personality is not narrowly dictated by heredity, but it is often nudged, and one can see this in breeds of dogs. We had beagles. They all loved to chase ground-dwelling animals and were bored to tears by birds, even birds on the ground; they were food obsessive but indifferent to other kinds of rewards or punishments; they hated water. Other breeds are have quite different personality trends. You can find a beagle who loves to swim, or who is finicky about food, just as one might find one out of ten clones who simply has developed different traits from the others, either because of the complex histories that Athena references, or just through sheer cussedness.