Greg Egan pt. 3

Dear Diarrhea,

Today's topic is Greg Egan's short story The Extra, a futuristic take on The Picture of Dorian Gray that explores the the dangers of pride, the unexpected consequences of untested technology, and the moral and social implications of breeding organ donors. The story features the extras, but in a far less advanced stage than in Closer.

The story follows the life of the wealthy but aging playboy Daniel Gray who indulges in all manner of debauchery, and consequently his body is in increasing need of maintenance. However, a solution to his problems is at hand: from early in his life, he has exploited the existence of a technology that enables the creation of live organ donors called extras through a genetic modification of human embryos. These extras have minimal awareness and intelligence to the point that they are considered mere empty bodies; thus, the moral reprehensibility of their use as carriers of livers, hearts and lungs for those who can afford it is much less connected to the issue of personhood.

So, thanks to the existence of extras cloned from his genes ten years apart by the dozens, Gray has a virtually unlimited pool of virtually unused organs of various ages available at his leisure: liver failure, lung cancer, heart conditions are no more a concern for him than the simple failure of an expendable household appliance.

However, the overall condition of his body cannot be sustained through the constant changing of individual organs; alongside health issues, there is the matter of fitness: muscle transplants, fat reduction, and so on. Research is ongoing for a simpler solution, a single transplant replacing the myriad of tinier individual fixes. If it was possible to transfer Gray's consciousness directly to a healthy extra, then all he would have to do in order to sustain his decadent lifestyle beyond the capacities of his body would be to occasionally switch to a new one.

With this idea on the table, the social stigma on extras enters into the equation. Extras are not considered people: they have just enough cognitive abilities to manage motor functions, but beyond that, they are designed to be as empty as possible. Since they are used as organ donors and not substitute bodies, the idea of Gray in an extra body is shocking, offensive, and disorienting. That Gray not only embraces but seeks this kind of reaction could be considered a redeeming quality: pushing the boundaries of social taboos may well pave the way to further social and scientific advances.

With a pending lawsuit against Gray, the issue of legality also comes into play. Since the law hasn't had any reason up to this point to acknowledge extras as legal entities, it doesn't; Gray plans on blatantly exploiting that, showing up at court with a new body and taking the old body with the mind of an extra in it. With no laws and no precedent, the court will have no choice but to charge the extra, leaving Gray alone. Again, as with the social stigma, this kind of selfish exploitation of legal loopholes might be considered positive: by setting the precedent of a full consciousness in an extra's body, the law will be forced to change in accordance and set the criteria for legal personhood along something other than biological markers.

However, the story doesn't follow that side of the issue; we are merely made aware of Gray's plans to taunt society and evade the law, we aren't shown the execution of these plans. As the transplant finally takes place, the narration passes to a fragment of Gray's consciousness that remains in the old body; while the operation was apparently successful, with the new body exhibiting all of the old Gray's traits, the old body contains a consciousness that has the memories and mental faculties of Gray combined with the extra's grasp of motor and speech functions. In effect, the narrating Gray is trapped in a defunct body with no way to communicate his travesty.

So there you have it, dear Diarrhea. The story of a corrupt soul's quest for immortality foiled by imperfect technology--a perfect rip-off of Dorian Gray, except with science instead of higher powers. Does this story have a moral? Yes. It's not that these proposed technological advances have a negative impact on society, as more conservative minds might read; rather, it is that moral bankruptcy coupled with unlimited resources is bound to cause trouble.

With that charming gem of ersatz truthery, I leave you until next week.

So long,
-Márton Körtesi.