Some time ago, a few source reported of a man who went through finger size reduce procedure to use his iPhone.
Thomas Martel, a 28-year-old fat guy from Denver, always had troubles hitting tiny buttons with his huge hands. The iPhone was the last straw, and he applied for thumb tissue amputation in order to use the touchscreen interface.
The news of course turned out to be a spoof. However, there’s always a grain of truth in every joke.
The first issue here is how easily we believe fake news, especially if they sound scientific enough. We’re living in Huxley’s worst dream: a world were junk information obscure important one. That means we should check our sources, be more sceptical and less ignorant.
The second amazing thing is how easily the news was accepted. In modern society we prefer drug treatment over improving immunodeficiency, surgery over will-power. It’s so much easier to get all that fat sucked out and continue gorging on junk food, then get a grip of yourself and try to eat healthy.
But the most interesting is the positive side. This article fantasizes over an important issue: how plastic surgery can make our life easier. Plastic surgery emerged as a means to aid people with injures, then was perverted into vanity enhancements. THe next step is probably conditioning our bodies for some specific activities. Exactly like in that Huxley’s nightmare.