January 20, 2004
Wise From the Start?... Let's take five with Moira Gunn. This is "Five Minutes."
Do you remember the way the Olympics used to be? I don't mean the games themselves. I mean our experience of watching them. We'd sit there each night - our hearts in our throats - Will the skater fall? Will the runner surge out in front? Will the swimmer lose his steam?
It was the same on the West Coast as it was on the East, even with the three hour time difference. Sure, you could call someone you knew but it was the tension of these contests which made them so captivating. When you knew the result, it lost the suspense.
No one would argue that these nightly presentations were real. They were highly produced. If you were suddenly presented with an athlete who wasn't from the US or wasn't in the very highest rankings, you knew there was an upset in the making.
Looking back, it was not unlike today's reality shows. We were glued to our seats, even though the outcome was already in the can.
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Of course, the Olympics has been ruined for any kind of suspense value. This became apparent when we learned early in the day that Tara Lapinsky had trumped Michelle Kwan in the 1998 Olympics.
And why? The competition was held in Japan, half a world away. Between the Internet and the fact that television networks broadcast news, if everyone else does. You couldn't keep it a secret. You can't have that many journalists and all that technology and expect everyone to sit on it so it can be great entertainment later in the day.
Believe me, if you tuned into Tara and Michelle that night, you were in it for the skating.
While information technology has proved a watershed of sorts for the Olympics, it's nothing compared to the specter of biotech. We've come to expect athletes to take anything they can muster up via pill, powder or injection, and we all know there's a cat-and-mouse game between the taking and the testing. Anything that's undetectable is fair game, and the bar for detectable spends all its time chasing the bleeding edge.
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But now, we're entering a very much different game. And every scientist working on a gene therapy to treat a serious human health condition must know that others are watching, and they've got a mind to improve athletic performance.
At my lowest, I think it might be time to call the whole thing off, but the truth is every reality show unwittingly holds up a mirror of who we are. What better way to prompt us to serious action. With the technologies of biotech coming down the pike, both as individuals and collective humanity, we are now placed in a position where we must be wise before we have experience.
The use of these technologies in the Olympics and in all professional sports is beginning to show us how we act in their presence. And humans are consistent. When we finally decide on a goal, we'll do anything we can to achieve it. We get blinded, and we make foolish choices. Even in the name of just wanting the best for ourselves and our children.
Biotech goes far beyond just athletic ability. Every part of the body, including the brain, has the potential to be tinkered with.
So, let's remember one thing: There's no technology - and there will never be a technology - that can save us from being human.
I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.
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