So there I am, thinking about how various TV shows might be different in the IST world, when my mind drifts onto "JAG".
For those of you who don't know, this long-running, recently ended CBS show depicted the activities (both courtroom and otherwise) of lawyers in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General. One of the show's central characters, Marine Lt. Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, had some interesting, possibly psychic abilities.
Which concept abruptly gave me furiously to think.
In the IST World, of course, the U.N. Edicts prohibit anyone exhibiting metahuman powers from serving in the national militaries (or intelligence/security services) of U.N. member nations. Presumably, this means that any individual already serving in the armed forces will be given a medical discharge (or something similar) if they develop such abilities.
BUT. Given the subtlety of certain abilities, it is entirely possible that the individual could conceivably keep them a secret for some time. The hitch would be the regular physical examinations that military personnel are subject to; however, I believe that the state of the art in power detection can only reveal whether or not an individual has the metahuman genes, not whether or not they have been "expressed".
I suspect that, in nations prizing civil liberties (such as the U.S.) immediately after that test became available, there was something of an outcry from people who might lose their livelihoods if their "meta-potential" was discovered. It does not seem appropriate, to me at least, that people should lose their jobs simply because they might one day develop a condition which would require their resignation.
So the question is: are such genetic tests part of the routine physical in (for example) the U.S. Armed Forces? And what are the implications of the answer?
Chris Davies.
For those of you who don't know, this long-running, recently ended CBS show depicted the activities (both courtroom and otherwise) of lawyers in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General. One of the show's central characters, Marine Lt. Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, had some interesting, possibly psychic abilities.
Which concept abruptly gave me furiously to think.
In the IST World, of course, the U.N. Edicts prohibit anyone exhibiting metahuman powers from serving in the national militaries (or intelligence/security services) of U.N. member nations. Presumably, this means that any individual already serving in the armed forces will be given a medical discharge (or something similar) if they develop such abilities.
BUT. Given the subtlety of certain abilities, it is entirely possible that the individual could conceivably keep them a secret for some time. The hitch would be the regular physical examinations that military personnel are subject to; however, I believe that the state of the art in power detection can only reveal whether or not an individual has the metahuman genes, not whether or not they have been "expressed".
I suspect that, in nations prizing civil liberties (such as the U.S.) immediately after that test became available, there was something of an outcry from people who might lose their livelihoods if their "meta-potential" was discovered. It does not seem appropriate, to me at least, that people should lose their jobs simply because they might one day develop a condition which would require their resignation.
So the question is: are such genetic tests part of the routine physical in (for example) the U.S. Armed Forces? And what are the implications of the answer?
Chris Davies.