Friday, October 28, 2005

Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights





Yet, what, if any, limits should be considered to human enhancement? On what grounds can citizens be prevented from modifying their own genes or brains? How far should reproductive rights be extended? Might enhancement reduce the diversity of humanity in the name of optimal health? Or, conversely, might enhancements inspire such an unprecedented diversity of human beings that they strain the limits of liberal tolerance and social solidarity? Can we exercise full freedom of thought if we can't exercise control over our own brains using safe, available technologies? Can we ensure that enhancement technologies are safe and equitably distributed? When are regulatory efforts simply covert, illiberal value judgments?

(Via Cyborg Democracy.)


Reading assignment: "Holy Fire" by Bruce Sterling.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I dont think there will be the elitist problem in the long term. As the biological sciences advance so will robotics, nano technology, computers ect. In time the processes that enhance a person can be automated. Part of the whole transhuman future/meme/storyline is that as these advances are made the economy of scarcity falls away and something radically different takes its place. Also remember that societies become richer and technologicaly advanced their birthrate tend to fall off.

The future will be neither as bad nor as fantastic as you might imagine but it always seems interesting enough that most people stick around to see what happens next.