05-01-2021, 22:12:49 PM
I'm currently thinking about in-universe terms for people having undergone transhumanist body-modification. (Concerning my previous post about a story idea of mine.)
"Transhuman" is obvious, of course, as is terms like "superhuman" or metahuman" or "parahuman". The MCU uses the term "enhanced human" or "enhanced", while the Deus Ex series uses "augmented human" or "augment", both of which I like. Of course, there'd probably be different slang and terminology in different places, so a globe-trotting story could feature a lot of different terms.
A related idea is transhuman-specific slurs. The Marvel comics have "genejoke" and "mutie" for mutants, which could work for genetically enhanced humans. Gattaca has "de-gene-rate", "faithbirth" and "Godchild" for non-designer babies. And the series Dark Angel uses... a particular slur against transgender people to refer to transgenic people.
(As an aside, I wonder how other speculative fiction writers feel when they write about Fantastic Racism. After all, it takes a certain amount of creativity to imagine fictional bigotry against fictional types of people, and I wonder whether other authors feel uncomfortable putting so much thought into such a thing.)
"Transhuman" is obvious, of course, as is terms like "superhuman" or metahuman" or "parahuman". The MCU uses the term "enhanced human" or "enhanced", while the Deus Ex series uses "augmented human" or "augment", both of which I like. Of course, there'd probably be different slang and terminology in different places, so a globe-trotting story could feature a lot of different terms.
A related idea is transhuman-specific slurs. The Marvel comics have "genejoke" and "mutie" for mutants, which could work for genetically enhanced humans. Gattaca has "de-gene-rate", "faithbirth" and "Godchild" for non-designer babies. And the series Dark Angel uses... a particular slur against transgender people to refer to transgenic people.
(As an aside, I wonder how other speculative fiction writers feel when they write about Fantastic Racism. After all, it takes a certain amount of creativity to imagine fictional bigotry against fictional types of people, and I wonder whether other authors feel uncomfortable putting so much thought into such a thing.)
Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?