Concern Over 'Souped Up' Human Race
By Michelle Roberts,
BBC News
| 11. 08. 2012
A race of humans who can work without tiring and recall every conversation they've ever had may sound like science fiction, but experts say the research field of human enhancement is moving so fast that such concepts are a tangible reality that we must prepare for.
People already have access to potent drugs, originally made for dementia patients and hyperactive children, that boost mental performance and wakefulness.
Within 15 years, experts predict that we will have small devices capable of recording our entire life experience as a continuous video feed - a life log that we can reference when our own memory fails.
Advances in bionics and engineering will mean we could all boast enhanced night vision allowing us to see clearly in the dark.
While it may be easy to count the potential gains, experts are warning that these advances will come at a significant cost - and one which is not just financial.
Potential harm
Four professional bodies - the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society - say...
Related Articles
By Ruha Benjamin, Los Angeles Review of Books | 10.18.2024
IN THE FALL OF 2016, I gave a talk at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton titled “Are Robots Racist?” Headlines such as “Can Computers Be Racist? The Human-Like Bias of Algorithms,” “Artificial Intelligence’s White Guy Problem,” and “Is...
Reproductive rights have been a flashpoint in national politics for decades, with the stakes surging after the Supreme Court shredded the right to an abortion. In the current presidential campaign, the battle over abortion has swelled and morphed to encompass in vitro fertilization (IVF), which has now moved rapidly from widely accepted to partisan hot button.
This dramatic shift was highlighted by the February decision of the Alabama Supreme Court that granted personhood rights to frozen IVF embryos, signaling that...
By Émile P. Torres, Truthdig | 08.08.2024
By Parmy Olson, Bloomberg Opinion | 07.12.2024
Photo from Hubert Burda Media via Flickr licensed under CC by NC-SA 2.0
Peter Thiel’s Enhanced Games promise to be an annual sporting event that lets athletes use performance-enhancing drugs, nicknamed the pro-doping Olympics (which some would scoff isn’t all...