The popular TV series Heroes depicts a group of people who have evolved to have special abilities, like the ability to fly and telepathy. In the show, characters with superpowers are ostracised by society when people think they would use their superpowers to hurt people. This is in line with other stories in popular culture, where people with special abilities have often been portrayed crudely as either superheroes or villains.
But many ordinary people out there have “superpowers” already thanks to mechanical or technological enhancements. They are real-life cyborgs, defined as a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts. And what’s more, with our growing reliance on technology, we all seem to be well on our way to becoming cyborgs. What kind of ethical dilemmas might this bring to our society?
Daniel Kish, a man who’s been sightless since a year old, is still able to mountain bike and camp out in the wilderness alone. He uses echolocation, the technique that bats use to see in the dark, which involves him clicking his tongue and interpreting the sound of the returning echo to figure out his surroundings. Most people rely on sight to navigate but Daniel has learned to use echolocation to do most things that sighted people can do, and in certain instances, can “see” his surroundings much better than them. His dream is to help all sight-impaired people see the world as clearly as he does. He is developing canes for the blind that would create the same range of sonar waves that bats send out, and hearing enhancements that would enable those blind people to hear a wider range of sound waves that are returned so they could navigate accurately just like a bat does.
But many ordinary people out there have “superpowers” already thanks to mechanical or technological enhancements. They are real-life cyborgs, defined as a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts. And what’s more, with our growing reliance on technology, we all seem to be well on our way to becoming cyborgs. What kind of ethical dilemmas might this bring to our society?
Daniel Kish, a man who’s been sightless since a year old, is still able to mountain bike and camp out in the wilderness alone. He uses echolocation, the technique that bats use to see in the dark, which involves him clicking his tongue and interpreting the sound of the returning echo to figure out his surroundings. Most people rely on sight to navigate but Daniel has learned to use echolocation to do most things that sighted people can do, and in certain instances, can “see” his surroundings much better than them. His dream is to help all sight-impaired people see the world as clearly as he does. He is developing canes for the blind that would create the same range of sonar waves that bats send out, and hearing enhancements that would enable those blind people to hear a wider range of sound waves that are returned so they could navigate accurately just like a bat does.
Enhancements like these are going one step further than, say, artificial limbs in that instead of acting as a poor substitute for an ability a person has lost, they actually give “superhuman” powers that are not part of ordinary human biological make-up and allow the person to do things other humans cannot do.
We are increasingly relying on technology like mobile phones and the internet in our everyday lives. Mobile phones and other computing devices are also becoming smaller and smaller, and are equipped with more sensors than ever before to connect our physical activity to the internet. Nike+ trainers wirelessly connect to an iPod and tracks the distance and pace of a person’s run. Apple have also filed a patent for a visual display system which could provide wearable iPod glasses. How long until medical/technological advances allow us to have these devices embedded in our bodies for better user experience and ease? If it were possible now and100% safe, would you choose to gain some “superpowers” by becoming a cyborg?
I would. I often wish I could have a built-in GPS system because I’m so hopeless with directions. I would be lost within a minute without Google Maps on my mobile in any new neighbourhood. I’d also love to have a built-in internet connection so I could have all the information on the internet at my fingertips (or even better, just in front of my eyes without needing to fiddle with external interfaces) at all times. With the ability to turn it on and off, of course.
With the increasingly affordable and accessible advances in genetics and synthetic biology, cyborgs will probably become commonplace in our society in the future. And cyborgs will no longer be an “Other” but our girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, friends, and parents. In fact, some of these people in your life may already be cyborgs.
There are people who already advocate the development and use of technology to improve the human condition by eliminating aging and enhancing human intellectual, physical and psychological capabilities. This international intellectual and cultural movement is called Transhumanism (often abbreviated to H+ or h+). They predict that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label "posthuman".
I’ve explored the ethics of designer babies in a previous blog post. Many of the same arguments could apply to transhumanism. Many people feel uncomfortable with "playing God", and philosophically and culturally, many people place a moral value on being “natural.” But don’t people have the right to change their bodies whichever way they see fit, as long as it’s not harmful to themselves or others?
Others argue that the ‘advantages’ endowed upon transhumans would stop them from experiencing character-building trials and therefore make their lives less meaningful. But wouldn’t a person with greater abilities tackle more advanced and difficult projects in order to challenge themselves to achieve excellence? Could this scenario then create a two-tier society where transhumans feel superior to their non-modified peers?
Equally, could non-modified humans ostracise transhumans out of fear or jealousy, as in the TV show Heroes? It may even exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor as emerging human enhancement technologies would be disproportionately available to those with greater financial resources, thereby creating a "genetic divide". In the worst case scenario often depicted in sci-fi, transhumans, more powerful and intelligent than “mere mortals”, may try to enslave or annihilate humans.
Although this is all speculation far into the future, I’d say that any technology which would improve the general health and conditions of human beings is a good thing. Equal distribution is an issue that needs to be considered, as well as tolerance on both human and transhuman sides. Adequate laws may need to be put in place to ensure equal access to such technology. Education programmes would let people see the benefits and minimise discrimination. But maybe the answer is to not to distinguish between transhuman and human so much in the first place. As I’ve argued in this blog before, technology is only as good as the people who use it. Fearing or blaming the technology that could potentially bring about a lot of good for a lot of people is counterproductive.
As long as there is a shared morality, free will and empathy, why label people?
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