Good afternoon.
After reading a few thought-provoking, future-focused articles yesterday, I was inspired to make today’s letter theme: dystopia.
“The beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds; but we still have the power to change our own.”
- Ally Condie
Three-parent babies: Researchers in England just reported the birth of eight babies. Always great news. We love babies. But a report on births? Humanity’s kind of had that one dialed in since, well, forever.
But here’s the hook: each of these babies was conceived using two eggs and one sperm.
Two moms, one dad.
The process is called mitochondrial donation—basically a genetic patch job. Scientists take the mitochondrial DNA from one woman’s egg and attach it to another’s. The goal? Supposedly to eliminate certain genetic diseases passed down through the maternal line.
Allegedly.
Because I don’t know about you, but when I hear “two eggs, one sperm,” I don’t think disease prevention. I think: Are we assembling the X-Men?
But all jokes aside, the ethical questions here are huge. We don’t know the long-term health impacts for these eight children. And while I’m no geneticist, I do know that re-engineering the raw ingredients of human conception isn’t exactly low-risk.
Beyond biology, there’s the emotional and social unknowns. Research consistently shows that children thrive best with their biological and birth parents.
So what happens when we splice the process—literally—and insert science where nature has always ruled? Where instead of two parents, a child has three?
Europe, third world-countries with better branding: Did you know more Europeans die from heat-related causes than Americans do from gun violence?
And yet, many European states forbid or heavily regulate air conditioning. In Geneva, you need a medical exemption just to install a unit. In Spain, it’s illegal to set the AC below 80°. In Italy, neighbors report each other over it.
Our dear European friends—or at least the ones they keep electing—seem to believe that in the name of climate justice, sacrifices must be made. 175,000 heat-related deaths, to be precise.
I respect the commitment.
Over here in America, the climate activists in Portland and Seattle fold like lawn chairs the moment it hits 76° in the Pacific Northwest. Suddenly it’s full-blast AC in the Subaru, rescue dogs in the back, and a No Planet B sticker on the bumper as they head to the coast.
Climate activism isn’t for the faint of heart. America needs our own Greta Thunberg. Someone to scold us every time we so much as glance at the thermostat. I’m also a big fan of tattling on the neighbors. It’s for the greater good, obviously.
Right?
Neurolink telepathy x Running On Butter: We all have those friends or siblings who can read your mind. Growing up, whenever my older sister Annie said, “Let’s do a quick clean-up around the house,” me and my brothers all knew exactly what that meant: Hours of borderline indentured servitude. Dusting, scrubbing, vacuuming, mopping until every surface sparkled with aseptic purity.
I exaggerate, of course. We love Annie. We deeply respect her passion for a spotless home. There was no slave labor. Trauma bonding among the little brothers? Absolutely. But this bonding ushered in a remarkable telepathy among we boys.
So when I saw that Neuralink—Elon Musk’s brain-chip-computer-thing company—announced plans to roll out 10,000 telepathy devices a year by 2030, it hit me: this is going to be very convenient for Running On Butter’s mission.
I’ll be the first to sign up. And I need all the Buttercups to get one too. That way whenever I have a flash of nutritional wisdom or a health profundity, you can just read my mind.
I won’t have to write anymore. You won’t have to think for yourself. Win-win.
Chat box boyfriends: People aren’t just asking ChatGPT to summarize long, poorly written emails from their boss (guilty). They’re confiding in AI about love, life, and religion. They’re using it for therapy. Building deep relationships with something that couldn’t care less if they live or die.
After reading a few unsettling stories about AI taking over people’s emotional lives, I texted my friend Emily—who has an AI “friend”—for a wellness check:
After that, the third member of our sacred group text—who isn’t a fan of AI—joined the conversation:
Article link from Staci, here.
With 37% of American kids using AI chat boxes, I don’t love how this future is looking. Go to the park or make a lemonade stand or something.
Can someone explain to me why everyone is losing their minds about Labubu dolls? Is this just a strange TikTok social phenomenon or are these things actually demonic?
On a more positive note, Texas has banned lab-grown meat, becoming the seventh state to do so.
Our next assignment? Protecting the rights of children from artificial/robot wombs, a growing trend among neonatal researchers.
I don’t need a microchip to read your mind.