The Bad
While the benefits for society may be great, there are also serious ramifications to consider. Perhaps the most obvious one deals with the unfair advantage that is created between the "sleepless" and the "sleepers." The normal humans progress throughout their lives learning at a normal rate while the "sleepless" experience a rapid learning curve. The "sleepless" spend their extra hours in the night learning new things and being productive while the rest of the humans are stuck in slumber. As the years progress, the gap between the "sleepless" and the "sleepers" increases. This problem has a number of bad effects for everyone. It is possible that the "sleepless" would become too powerful because they would have extra time to gain money, buy land, and augment their personal success. Regular humans could become slaves to the advanced technology created by the "sleepless" and their ever increasing financial and political power. A minority could rule the majority. Even if the United States banned genetic altering of this type, other countries may not follow suit. It could become an international race to see who could create the most "sleepless" first. Another ramification to consider would be the prejudice and distrust of the "sleepers" toward the "sleepless." Like throughout our world's history, there has always been a resentment for a different race or class of people. It would be hard to see a world with mixed genetic altering without hatred. I don't know if the world could handle genetic altering of that magnitude.
