Post a Comment On: Whirled Peas

Oscar Pistorius, a 21-year-old South African double-amputee sprinter, wanted to compete in the Olympics. NOT the Paralympics, but the regular one - with prosthetic limbs.

The IAAF (fairly, in my opinion) disqualified him because of the ridiculous mechanical advantage he would have over the other runners because, essentially, the man's wearing springs where his legs should've been! However, recently, the CAS upheld his appeal and overturned the IAAF ban, thus allowing him to compete.

This is where I get to the point. It would be terribly interesting to have some sort of a "Supralympics" where basically, anything goes. Steroids, bionic attachments, jet-engines in shoes, and other assorted artifical enhancements! A commenter on Slashdot echoes my feelings:
I've wanted this ever since I watched the Olympics and realized how bored I was. Putting people who won the genetic lottery into similar training programs and seeing who comes out on top isn't that interesting to me. But pushing people 'beyond' their natural limits, and in the process potentially expanding the meaning of being human and the possibilities for the species at large...that's interesting.

It would be, indeed!