“Instead of learning a new language, you could have the information downloaded into your brain. It sounds like science fiction, but a lot of work is being done in these areas at the moment.” Professor John Weckert of Charles Sturt University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics is talking about the ethical issues surrounding ‘human enhancement’.
“If you attach devices to neurons in the brain, distinctions between the biological and the non-biological break down. So you have to ask, when we ‘enhance’ people, are we taking away their humanity?”
Professor Weckert and his research partners have successfully applied for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to look at the ethical issues surrounding human enhancement. The NSF was created by the US Congress in 1950 and has an annual budget of about US$5.5 billion.
Some other examples of human enhancement could include improvements in sight, intelligence and strength, according to Professor Weckert. “Some projects are aimed at extending human life spans. Some researchers are even talking about making humans who could live forever. There is a lot of work going on with improving memory and brain capacity.
“If certain enhancement techniques are possible, what is going to happen to equity issues in society? Will parents feel under an obligation to have their children enhanced to give them an advantage in life?
“There will only be certain people who can afford enhancement, and divisions in society will become worse than they are now.”
On the other hand, could a whole class of people have enhancement imposed upon them? “That sort of thing is possible, people could be bred for particular jobs. The research wing of the United States military is trying to enhance people in certain ways so that for example they will be a better soldier, or fighter jet pilot.”
Professor Weckert says that we could have a society where for example rich people voluntarily undergo intelligence enhancement, while poor people are compulsorily strength-enhanced. “These are all social issues which need to be thought out.
“Fortunately, given the state of the current technology, we do have time to actually look at what we should do about it and develop policies. Many of the developments will undoubtedly be beneficial, and we are not underestimating that, but the technologies should be developed and used in a way that maximises the benefits to all and minimises the harm.”
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