So, what we think of as 'humanity' and as being 'humane' today, would it still be true of people with these kind of bodies, impervious to all the agonies of pain, environment and death? Where no one would have to care for anyone else ever again in their lifetime? Where people have forgotten that people used to have each other's backs beyond any personal gain except the emotional reward of being humane? Rambo would be a pussy in this future environment. Whatever you could imagine for yourself is absolutely possible. What would happen if a number of predicted future possibilities come to pass at the same time? Specifically, body modifications which permit people to live on radioactive sludge, metal leavings, rocks and sand bodies which feel no pain when injured bodies which heal so fast even death is no longer a possibility - and this is the human experience for centuries? Why would you care any longer about hurting yourself? Video games would no longer be important because everyone could easily have the excitement of war, destruction, deathless murder and change of physical attributes without penalty, all in actual fact.

Literally, if you don't use it, you lose it. The scientists say the body basically grows new tissues and brain cells to deal with the new functions it needs to survive, while literally absorbing and getting rid of the old, unused cells. When immigrants change countries with a completely different habitat, aesthetics and foodstuffs, some adults may never be able to adjust, while children quickly adjust so fast, they may completely lose all ability to return to their country of birth after they grow up.

Doctors and anthropologists have a bigger picture of how people adjust to various temperatures, foods, deformities, injuries, beliefs, customs, mores, etc., especially if born into a particular environment. However, the 'average' person, who rarely travels too far outside of his or her own experience and understanding, believes those limits are very rigid. It quickly adjusts to whatever environment it lives in, whatever the circumstances, within limits. Most of us are aware of how plastic the human body is.

曼谷的發條女孩 by Paolo Bacigalupi