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Superhuman: Exploring Human Enhancement from 600 BCE to 2050
- GenresScience
44 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2024
The book I wish I had read in high school. So fun to be reinvigorated by the opportunities that biotechnology provide.
"I'm mystified by the resistance that human enhancement faces. I think many people have a horror of playing God, but if they reflected on how bad a job God was doing most of the time, they would lose that horror. It seems to me that part of our responsibility as humans is to make the world a better place, and to make things better, including life for one another if we can. And discharging that responsibility is a basic duty and a basic decency between human beings."
"I'm mystified by the resistance that human enhancement faces. I think many people have a horror of playing God, but if they reflected on how bad a job God was doing most of the time, they would lose that horror. It seems to me that part of our responsibility as humans is to make the world a better place, and to make things better, including life for one another if we can. And discharging that responsibility is a basic duty and a basic decency between human beings."
May 5, 2023
BRIEF ESSAYS SUPPORTING THE NOTION OF FUTURE HUMAN ‘ENHANCEMENT’
The Introduction by Emily Sargent to this 2012 book states, “Rapid developments in areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and cognitive science hint at a whole new world of enhancement opportunities… For… this book, some of the leading voices in the field share their work.” (Pg. 4) She continues, “it seems our relationship with technology continues to grow. We are quick, it seems to abandon the anxiety that often accompanies a new technology and enhance its benefits… While human enhancement might initially seem to be the preserve of science fiction, the exhibition examines the subject through the lens of boarder human experience. Initial fears that enhancement might compromise our core values are dispelled as we unravel the subject and face the possibility that it is our very desire to improve ourselves that makes us human… [This book] highlights the ingenuity displayed in the past to overcome obstacles or conquer new frontiers, while offering a glimpse of what we might look forward to in the future.” (Pg. 6)
Barbara Sahakian states, ‘what are the positive aspects of using cognitive enhancing drugs? Well, we have an ageing society and with age there’s an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, so we have to think about that, but also we know that people are working for longer now so the retirement age has gone up… So maybe this is one way that people can actually stay awake and alert for long periods of time and maybe in competition with younger people who are at work. We also know about horrific accidents that have been caused when bus drivers, for instance, have fallen asleep at the wheel. So there may be times when we want to keep people awake and alert for long periods of time…. So there may be times when we want to use it.” (Pg. 34)
John Harris observes, “I’m mystified by the resistance that human enhancement faces. I think many people have a horror of playing God, but if they reflected on how bad a job God was doing most of the time, they would lose that horror. It seems to me that part of our responsibility as humans is to make the world a better place, and to make things better, including life for one another if we can. And discharging that responsibility is a basic duty and a basic decency between human beings.” (Pg. 38)
Julian Savulescu suggests, “what problem could be more important to challenge and to research and to identify strategies for dealing with than our own inherent moral limitations? What kind of moral enhancement? Well, the ability, a collection of attributes: the ability to understand other people’s emotions (empathy) and sympathetically respond to those emotions, willingness to make self-sacrificial decisions, altruism---all of these qualities together are needed in addition to cognitive enhancement if we’re to deal with the major problems that we face today… For those who are skeptical about making humans morally better, at very least we should try to reduce the distorting influences and also the natural inequality in moral capacities that already exists.” (Pg. 41)
This book will be of interest to Futurists, Transhumanists, and similar folks.
The Introduction by Emily Sargent to this 2012 book states, “Rapid developments in areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and cognitive science hint at a whole new world of enhancement opportunities… For… this book, some of the leading voices in the field share their work.” (Pg. 4) She continues, “it seems our relationship with technology continues to grow. We are quick, it seems to abandon the anxiety that often accompanies a new technology and enhance its benefits… While human enhancement might initially seem to be the preserve of science fiction, the exhibition examines the subject through the lens of boarder human experience. Initial fears that enhancement might compromise our core values are dispelled as we unravel the subject and face the possibility that it is our very desire to improve ourselves that makes us human… [This book] highlights the ingenuity displayed in the past to overcome obstacles or conquer new frontiers, while offering a glimpse of what we might look forward to in the future.” (Pg. 6)
Barbara Sahakian states, ‘what are the positive aspects of using cognitive enhancing drugs? Well, we have an ageing society and with age there’s an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, so we have to think about that, but also we know that people are working for longer now so the retirement age has gone up… So maybe this is one way that people can actually stay awake and alert for long periods of time and maybe in competition with younger people who are at work. We also know about horrific accidents that have been caused when bus drivers, for instance, have fallen asleep at the wheel. So there may be times when we want to keep people awake and alert for long periods of time…. So there may be times when we want to use it.” (Pg. 34)
John Harris observes, “I’m mystified by the resistance that human enhancement faces. I think many people have a horror of playing God, but if they reflected on how bad a job God was doing most of the time, they would lose that horror. It seems to me that part of our responsibility as humans is to make the world a better place, and to make things better, including life for one another if we can. And discharging that responsibility is a basic duty and a basic decency between human beings.” (Pg. 38)
Julian Savulescu suggests, “what problem could be more important to challenge and to research and to identify strategies for dealing with than our own inherent moral limitations? What kind of moral enhancement? Well, the ability, a collection of attributes: the ability to understand other people’s emotions (empathy) and sympathetically respond to those emotions, willingness to make self-sacrificial decisions, altruism---all of these qualities together are needed in addition to cognitive enhancement if we’re to deal with the major problems that we face today… For those who are skeptical about making humans morally better, at very least we should try to reduce the distorting influences and also the natural inequality in moral capacities that already exists.” (Pg. 41)
This book will be of interest to Futurists, Transhumanists, and similar folks.
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