Identity

Remember Gattaca? It's a film about our futuristic selves, and a slippery slope to a place we might not like. A place where your genetic destiny is easily gleaned from a small sample of your DNA, and facts about your health, intelligence, longevity and susceptibility to disease effectively determine your career, your education, the opportunities you are given, who you marry and who will insure you.

A place where every child born has been pre-selected to have "the best" combination of features from each of it's parents. And where "faith" (or natural) births are frowned upon because of the risk of imperfection. A sad, clinical place where genius may never arise because it is clear that some of the most creative and intelligent amongst us are the geniuses they are because of some disease, however minor, or the impact of one.

If you haven't seen the film, go and get it on DVD. It's a beautiful, inspiring one.

I came across this unique look at the concept of identity, played out as a series of ideas for business cards.

Imagine that the exchange of business cards today becomes the exchange of a blood sample, in the future.

Even if you think you're principled and wouldn't want to encourage this sort of genetic-apartheid, given the choice, would you rather do business with someone you can genetically prove is prone to honesty or someone whose genetic identity is hidden to you?

It's not far away.