Imagine a small frog crossing a busy highway in order to escape a predator. It has managed to avoid getting run over by cars, and has landed on the road centerline. It is only a matter of time before a car drifts slightly and smashes the frog; is it safer for the frog to stay in the same place, or to complete the journey to the other side and risk getting hit?
Humans have crossed half the metaphorical road of environmental control in an effort to escape the hands of the gods. Throughout the development of his argument in Ishmael, Daniel Quinn reiterates a premise that nature cannot be controlled without devastating side effects. However, with new advances in genetic engineering, humanity can modify themselves and their environment in order …show more content…
John Harris, Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics at University of Manchester, has made the case for the extension of human life through both genetic engineering and nanomedicine (Harris). Nanomedicine is an emerging field of medicine concerning robots the size of bacteria. Although the technology has not been developed yet, devices are being created to monitor and repair damaged cells and tissues within the body. At the same time, a growing list of organs and tissues are being artificially created using stem cell technology. Even in 2001, scientists were able to create skeletons within humans using stem cells from other sources, thereby creating new functioning organs (Quarto). With the combination of nanomedicine, recreation of vital organs, and switching off genes responsible for the aging process, human life can be prolonged to an enormous amount: 300 years …show more content…
However, the greed and lack of control that weaves through Taker culture is a direct result of the flaws of human nature. This concept, referred to as psychological egoism, posits that a person only has one ultimate goal: their own welfare (Shaver). Many of the problems of the Taker lifestyle, such as unchecked population growth and destruction of nature, stem from a sense of selfishness and egoism. With the use of enhancing interventions, the traits of selflessness, awareness and changeability could all be theoretically increased to levels greater than natural. If these new humans, or ‘posthumans’, spread across the world, they would inevitably find Taker culture immoral, and create some other evolved method of living. Another benefit of these posthumans is their enhanced power of cooperation, so a level of social equality (on terms of gender, wealth, and race) will be reached, as predicted by public policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute Sneha Barot. With this equality, posthuman women will gain more rights, have an equal education as men, and can learn more about sex education, leading to a reduced birth rate. This, in turn, will reduce the threat of overpopulation growing at an unsustainable rate
Humans have crossed half the metaphorical road of environmental control in an effort to escape the hands of the gods. Throughout the development of his argument in Ishmael, Daniel Quinn reiterates a premise that nature cannot be controlled without devastating side effects. However, with new advances in genetic engineering, humanity can modify themselves and their environment in order …show more content…
John Harris, Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics at University of Manchester, has made the case for the extension of human life through both genetic engineering and nanomedicine (Harris). Nanomedicine is an emerging field of medicine concerning robots the size of bacteria. Although the technology has not been developed yet, devices are being created to monitor and repair damaged cells and tissues within the body. At the same time, a growing list of organs and tissues are being artificially created using stem cell technology. Even in 2001, scientists were able to create skeletons within humans using stem cells from other sources, thereby creating new functioning organs (Quarto). With the combination of nanomedicine, recreation of vital organs, and switching off genes responsible for the aging process, human life can be prolonged to an enormous amount: 300 years …show more content…
However, the greed and lack of control that weaves through Taker culture is a direct result of the flaws of human nature. This concept, referred to as psychological egoism, posits that a person only has one ultimate goal: their own welfare (Shaver). Many of the problems of the Taker lifestyle, such as unchecked population growth and destruction of nature, stem from a sense of selfishness and egoism. With the use of enhancing interventions, the traits of selflessness, awareness and changeability could all be theoretically increased to levels greater than natural. If these new humans, or ‘posthumans’, spread across the world, they would inevitably find Taker culture immoral, and create some other evolved method of living. Another benefit of these posthumans is their enhanced power of cooperation, so a level of social equality (on terms of gender, wealth, and race) will be reached, as predicted by public policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute Sneha Barot. With this equality, posthuman women will gain more rights, have an equal education as men, and can learn more about sex education, leading to a reduced birth rate. This, in turn, will reduce the threat of overpopulation growing at an unsustainable rate