Cloning. What's wrong with that?

Today I've determined to discuss this issue of cloning, simply because at least a few perspectives on cloning irritate me. I will admit that there are a few issues concerning cloning that are reasonably debateable: harvesting organs, methods of protracting life..., there may be more, but they aren't coming to me at the moment.

Anyway, here's my take on cloning. Go for it. If you want to clone yourself. If you want to clone dead kids. If you want to clone Einstein, let it happen. It won't matter, because your clone ISN'T YOU!!!!!!!!! People who think cloning is controversial (outside of the realms I mentioned moments ago) need just a wee bit of education. By definition, your identical twin is actually more like you than your clone would be. How is that possible? you ask. It's simple. Identical twins (also known as monozygotic twins) originally came from a single cell. As such, they have exactly the same DNA, just like your clone would.

However, DNA isn't the whole story. See, DNA isn't actually what we're made up of. DNA is simply the road map for the proteins that ACTUAL determine what we are. Even those proteins aren't what we're made of. We also include water, fat, lipids (which is really just another word for fat), and various other things that I don't have the necessary degrees to mention. In other words (as any good identical twin will tell you), two creatures that have the same DNA are not the same creature in two different shells.

Identical twins often have different personalities and always have different finger prints. They've experienced different things, developed slightly differently in the womb, and ingested different things throughout life. Now imagine for a moment that your clone is basically your identical twin, born between 20 and 50 years after you were. Can you even imagine how different the two of you would be? The only thing you'd both have in common would be a roadmap. Even your bodies (let's call them shells for fun) would be a great deal different.

And, if you are catholic or in some religion that believes in the concept of souls, you should already know that souls can't be split or divided. Your clone wouldn't be you, simply because your clone wouldn't have your soul. Ultimately, unless your concern is scientific study, organ harvesting, or the like, you should have no freaking problem with cloning, unless you happen to hate twins. And, as far as I can tell from that Miller Lite commercial, no one hates twins.