If you could design your own body and hit a button and have it immediately implemented, would you keep your natural self or would you make changes?

bizarroland@fedia.io to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 165 points –

We'll just all assume that every person who gets this would make themselves early twenties with flawless skin, perfect organs, appendages and functionality, and no excess weight.

My question is, would you change yourself from your genetic baseline, and if so, how?

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I would absolutely:

  • Get rid of anxiety (assuming there's some genetic component to this - seems like all the women in my family have it)
  • Change my eye color from hazel (mixed green & brown) to full green
  • Add about 5 inches of height (I'm only 5'0")
  • Add gills to my sides that deploy at will when under water, but otherwise are hidden
  • Fix that annoying "it went down the wrong pipe" design flaw
  • Add a nictitating membrane to help fix my dry eyes
  • Wings? Maybe!

Definitely wings. First thing I thought of. Unfortunately that would require a massive redesign. Firstly, you'd need hollow bones, as well as a very low body fat percentage. Decent chance boobs and butt don't grow hardly at all. Secondly, you'd need extremely strong chest muscles, which also still have to be light. And in order to provide enough energy for that, you'd need a larger and stronger heart with wider blood vessels. You'd also need to most likely quintuple your daily calorie intake. Possibly more depending on how often/when/ where you are flying. You would also want lungs with more surface area to absorb oxygen better, even at low altitudes. Especially at higher altitudes. That would likely mean a stronger diaphram. Stronger leg muscles for takeoff/landing. Better eyes for scoping out landing points and avoiding hazards. Most birds don't fly at night, so you may consider something akin to a cats eyes, or go the bat route with echolocation. And you're going to need a neutral remapping unless you just plan to replace your arms with the wings. Fortunately, outside of a higher energy cost, that last one might happen automatically, our brains are very plastic.

What a thorough breakdown haha

Hmm... hollow bones might negate the need for gills.