Better Than Human: The Promise and

Transcription

1 Better Than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves By Allen Buchanan PHIL Science, Technology and Human Values Team Members: Jose DeGuzman, Victor Peña, Mariam Haile, Gerardo Lopez, Edwin Joya, Jane Ho, Noel Lozano

2 Chapter 1: Breathless Optimism, Hysterical Loathing Purpose: Author wants to educate the general audience by confronting the arguments against biomedical enhancements Michelle vs. Carlos (Represents the conflict of biomedical enhancements) Terminology: Enhancement: human intervention that improves some capacity Cognitive Enhancement: increase cognitive capacities Biomedical Enhancement: improve existing capacity by acting directly on the body

3 Chapter 1: Breathless Optimism, Hysterical Loathing Modes of Biomedical Enhancements: Drugs Implanting Technology that connects to human brain Generally improve the normal function, however does not make us better off overall Front door vs. Back door Enhancements Enhancements not new and are key to human progress Unenhanced world is a miserably poor world

4 Chapter 1: Breathless Optimism, Hysterical Loathing Author combats 4 Main Arguments against Enhancements: Playing God Change Human Gene pool Changing our Biology Change or Destroy Human Nature Worrisome, the common belief is that since it is biomedical it is going to profoundly change us

5 Chapter 2: Why Evolution isn t Good Enough Why we should consider genetic modification: Natural selection never gets the job done. Humans aren t perfectly adapted. Environment is always changing. Example: Viruses always changing, natural selection produces another one so humans don t have resistance to it. We have design flaws. Example: We can t synthesize Vitamin C, which has caused many deaths from scurvy. We need to enhance just to prevent things from getting worse.

6 Chapter 2: Why Evolution isn t Good Enough Unintentional Genetic Modification (UGM) and Intentional Genetic Modification (IGM) Post reproductive- old age flaws, we can t do anything about it (UGM). What if we could modify and remove the harmful flaws that UGM decides for us? This would be done through IGM. IGM has the potential to achieve the good results of UGM. Example: What if a group of humans have genes that resist to HIV-AIDs? If we capitalize on this, what if the small group died due to natural causes? Millions will suffer, but it will take thousands of years for the genes to spread. What if the genes were able to be spread quicker to IGM? The downside of IGM: -UGM- Some genes that may potentially help humans are lost forever, but if paired with IGM, those genes don t have to be lost. Decreased genetic diversity since those genes are unique to those who possessed them.

7 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? Argument: Biomedical enhancement is not natural If everything in the world is natural then biomedical enhancement is natural Human Nature is evil; Evolution is not meant to be good but for reproductive fitness Guru Fukyama states good and bad of human nature are extremely connected, if we destroy the bad parts of human nature we will also destroy the good parts (throwing the baby with the bath water) First we have to define human nature because Science has challenged our common ideas Because people have used the concept of nature to harm others- way for people to impose their subjective value into others Example- homosexually branded as committing crimes against nature or racism- blacks seen as inferior to other human beings

8 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? Various definitions of human nature Confuses- human nature is a product of acculturation Aristotle- human nature- something permanent and universal- essential characteristics that make us human Species are distinguished by infertility, members of same species can reproduce but when members of different species (frog and donkey) get together they cannot THAT IS BY UNASSISTED REPRODUCTION We will destroy human nature if we use Intentional Genetic Enhancement Natural disaster could extinct us all before biomedical enhancement No guarantee evolution will only be able to keep the characteristics we value the most, just the parts that are useful for reproductive fitness

9 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? Bush s council worry biological enhancement will ruin normal relationships and create unnatural relationships Those relationships are not purely biological Only way to stress that something is valuable is to stay that it is human nature They imply there is only one valuable way to form parent child relationship and one way of marriage They are saying couples should engage in the very best form of marriage or not be married at all Example cloning is inhumane, and only child born out of love is human, for any other reason, its inhuman Examples of cultural relationships that are not good/healthy, New Guinea; genital mutilation yet still exist

10 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? If we change what s good about humans through biomedical enhancement we will lose the ability to distinguish what s good and bad Only based on assumption of what humans are like, but we can t even define human nature and what we value Value is dependent on the culture and context of the present But if the change from human to the next version of humans with biomedical enhancement then we wont have a human left we can compare ourselves to Before we could preserve human nature, a natural disaster could kill us all What about change that occurs rapidly to post human because of widespread biomedical enhancement If we live longer we re smarter, healthier, more capable of empathy, we wouldn t be aliens, we would be enhanced humans We could enhance the capabilities of human nature we value in the present

11 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? Our understanding of what we call a good life would change and we would have higher standards in a biomedical enhancement world But we already have standards now and so did our ancestors before us Dying at young age, dying diseases easily, standards were lower YET progress hasn t caused us to lose grip on what good means Remember we are drawn to enhancement because we recognize human nature is not all good

12 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? Human decision is greatly influenced by emotions. We can t make decisions without relying on our emotions just the way human decisions making is excuses efforts towards morality to human nature Examples Writing, electronic recording are used to help to counteract the flaws of human memory Tendency to go for instant gratification- easy with credit cards so self-help books are created to enhance our ability to make good moral decisions forcing us to consider the well-being of others Possible drugs that increase our ability to empathize with others, evidence people become more trusting and cooperative if you increase the hormone oxytocin in their brain

13 Chapter 3: Changing Human Nature? If we have bad tendencies should we change them or just accept them and say that is morally impossible? Instead of excusing infidelity for human nature we could create love drugs that enhance our pair bonding The more we learn about our evolved limitations the more we are able to change them with biomedical intervention No need to assume only biomedical intervention will fix every bad human nature but there is also no need to assume biomedical enhancement will never fix bad human nature If we do not fix our bad nature; future humans might say it s our fault for not fixing our human nature limitations

14 Chapter 4: Playing God, Responsibly If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change -Giuseppe di Lampedusa Explains the meaning of conservatism Conservatism is about cherishing and sustaining the good things passed on to us from previous generations We want to preserve what is good but we realize that we have remarkable new opportunities for improving human life by biomedical means

15 Chapter 4: Playing God, Responsibly Change is inevitable Conservatives think we can choose not to change We sometimes have to change in order to preserve Pursuit of enhancements signals a greedy dissatisfaction with the status quo and insatiable appetite for perfection

16 Chapter 4: Playing God, Responsibly We may need to improve some particular capacity in order to preserve what we value Enhancements may be needed just to help ensure that we don t experience a decline in average quality of life We will need biomedical enhancements to cope with the negative unintended consequences of medical advances we already made Ex: Enhancements of immune system to help us better resist emerging pandemics in an era of globalization

17 Chapter 4: Playing God, Responsibly Extreme Connectedness- use biomedical interventions to try to improve ourselves we will make things worse Biomedical enhancements are too risky An organism is like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, who has to run faster as the ground crumbles beneath her, just to stay where she is

18 Chapter 5: Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer? Some people are so worried about the unfairness of biomedical enhancements not being accessible to everyone that they actually propose not developing them or at least not allowing anyone to have them until everyone can This is called the EQUAL or NOTHING VIEW As a result, four framing assumptions are developed in the discussion about justice and enhancement: 1. Biomedical enhancements are personal goods 2. Biomedical enhancements are zero-sum 3. Assumption that biomedical enhancements will be expensive marketed goods 4. The only role of the government will be to regulate the market for biomedical enhancements

19 Chapter 5: Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer? Life isn t a Competition People uncritically assume that biomedical enhancements will be zero-sum goods because they compare them to performance enhancement drugs used in sports In decently organized societies things are arranged so the we generally benefit from differences in capacities Everyone has his or her own expertise that benefits everyone as a whole Some very valuable innovations become inexpensive very quickly For example prescription drugs and cell phones Once they go off patent and can be produced as generics Biomedical enhancements may expensive at first, but how long they remain expensive is up to us We can make them cheaper either by modifying intellectual property laws or by having the government subsidize them

20 Chapter 5: Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer? Why governments will care about enhancements If some enhancements are treated like public education or basic health care, then governments will try to ensure that they are widely distributed This means that who gets them won't be a matter of who can pay Willing Guinea Pigs The rich get the benefits before the rest of us, but they also bear greater risks and cost The rich buy the first generation version of the innovation at a high price Often they get a defective product and sometimes a dangerous one Later, when the bugs have been eliminated and the safety issues have been dealt with, the rest of us buy the improved version at a lower price

21 Chapter 6: Is Enhancement Corrupting? Argument Professor Michael Sandel at Harvard University says: To want to enhance is not just to improve but perfection, perfection is a vice that leads to character defect; bad character. To pursue enhancement betrays a failure to appreciate the giftedness of life, does not let the individual embrace and learn from the mistakes made. Enhancements = drive towards mastery, want to be in total control of all situations Ex: Parents trying to enhance their children to try and control their imperfections. They want to control their genes to create a competitive edge. Must accept them for who they are.

22 Chapter 6: Is Enhancement Corrupting? Counter Argument Freud says: a cigar is just a cigar = an enhancement is just an enhancement Improving a capacity will make a better overall individual or if many others have the improvement we will all benefit from it Improving a capacity may help to avoid worsening a situation, although you are aware that it may be a risk We must all appreciate what we have at the moment and not get so much caught up in the future Will not enjoy life to the fullest To get a higher quality you also need to give up something that is already quality; money, time, etc. Enhancement drugs = substitute for effort and willpower Nothing wrong with drugs to enhance the normal human capacity for pair-bonding

23 Chapter 7: The Enhancement Enterprise Biomedical enhancements are already present and more are coming whether we like it or not. Research to cure and prevent disease will open up new possibilities Humans will be better than well increasing human capacities by biomedical means Just saying no is not an option Nature or evolution is not like a master engineer. The natural-the biological status quo- is rarely optimal To make a rational evaluation of possibilities of biomedical enhancement, we have to rid ourselves of pre-darwinian, romanticized, rosy assumptions about nature and our own biology Human nature is a mixed bag, with plenty of room for improvement It s a mistake to assume that the various elements of human nature are so densely interconnected that any attempt to improve it will be disastrous. The more we learn about how we are put together, the better we ll be at improving ourselves Sweeping generalizations about seamless webs are unhelpful

24 Chapter 7: The Enhancement Enterprise Attempts to draw bright lines that exclude biomedical enhancements across the board fail. There are good reasons to go beyond therapy, to try to be better than well Evolution doesn t create products that are biologically optimal Even if it s true that the aim of medicine is health, that doesn t show that it s wrong to use biotechnologies to make us better than well Enhancement isn t the pursuit of perfection or total mastery. In some cases people may pursue enhancements because they fail to properly appreciate what they have It s simply false to say that enhancement represents the desire for... the pursuit of perfection To take biomedical enhancements off the table on the basis of a wild prediction that they will inevitably involve mass delusions of total control is not only hysterical; it s ethically irresponsible