This would imply that you had to choose a specialization when the "designed" human could just be best suited for all of those things. Physical and mental perfection.

I think divergence is more likely, simply because of tradeoffs required. For example, physical strength and mental capabilities compete with each other for energy.

Excess dietary energy is more of a problem than a limitation at the moment, especially amongst groups that can afford genetic engineering.

Perhaps the first changes would be to our dietary track to absorb more energy, so we can change more things!

Hmm, true. But, can we design for perfection across all traits?

I always imagined it's a bit like the old Mage vs Warrior vs Ninja (or whatever) selections in fantasy games - you can maximize total area under the curve, or you can specialize in certain areas at the cost of others.

Edit/add - A convergence would also indicate there is global agreement on the "gold standard". Sure, maximizing intellect and longevity/health is easy. But, physical appearance?

> Mage vs Warrior vs Ninja (or whatever)

Canonically it's Thief/Rogue, analogous to the MMO trinity of "healing, tank, damage" aka "wisdom, strength, agility".

Those can also translate into a holistic way: You gotta have the wisdom to know when to retreat/heal, the strength to endure and the agility to hit/get to where it matters. They don't necessarily exclude each other.

Please tell me which of these bodies is superior to the others: http://mymodernmet.com/howard-schatz-beverly-ornstein-athlet...

How would you design a human to be the best as both a horse jockey and a basketball player?

The Monty Python sketch "Bicycle Repair Man" predicts that unusual variations will be highly valued when a particular "ideal" genotype becomes common.