Human enhancement 3877892 220687745 2008-06-21T02:17:21Z Discospinster 82432 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/203.40.133.109|203.40.133.109]] to last version by Lightbot (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) '''Human enhancement''' refers to any attempt, whether temporary or permanent, to overcome the current limitations of the [[human body]], whether through [[nature|natural]] or [[artificial]] means. The term is sometimes applied to the use of technological means to select or alter human [[aptitude]]s and other [[phenotype|phenotypical]] characteristics, whether or not the alteration results in characteristics that lie beyond the existing human range. Here, the test is whether the technology is used for non-therapeutic purposes. Some [[bioethicist]]s restrict the term to the non-therapeutic application of [[Human enhancement#Technologies|specific technologies]] &mdash; [[Neurotechnology|neuro-]], [[cyberware|cyber-]], [[gene therapy|gene-]], and [[nanomedicine|nano-technologies]] &mdash; to [[human biology]].<ref name="Hughes 2004 (paper)">{{cite paper| author = [[James Hughes|Hughes, James]]| title = Human Enhancement on the Agenda| date = 2004 | url = http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/human_enhancement_on_the_agenda/| accessdate=2007-02-02}}</ref><ref>Moore, P., "Enhancing Me: The Hope and the Hype of Human Enhancement", John Wiley, 2008</ref> ==Technologies== <!--Human enhancement technologies redirects here--> '''Human enhancement technologies''' ('''HET''') are techniques that can be used not simply for treating [[illness]] and [[disability]], but also for enhancing human capacities and characteristics.<ref name="Enhancement Technologies Group 1998">{{cite paper| author = Enhancement Technologies Group| title = Writings by group participants| date = 1998 | url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbtdag/bioethics/writings/index.html| accessdate=2007-02-02}}</ref> In some circles, the expression "human enhancement technologies" is synonymous with [[emerging technologies]] or [[converging technologies]].<ref name="Roco and Bainbridge 2004"/> In other circles, the expression "human enhancement" is roughly synonymous with [[human genetic engineering]],<ref name="Agar 2004">{{cite book|author = [[Nicholas Agar|Agar, Nicholas]]|title = Liberal Eugenics: In Defence of Human Enhancement|year = 2004|id = ISBN 1-4051-2390-7}}</ref><ref name="Parens 2000">{{cite book| author = Parens, Erik| title = Enhancing Human Traits: Ethical and Social Implications| publisher = Georgetown University Press| year = 2000| id = ISBN 0-87840-780-4}}</ref> it is used most often to refer to the general application of the [[technological convergence|convergence]] of [[nanotechnology]], [[biotechnology]], [[information technology]] and [[cognitive science]] ([[NBIC]]) to [[Performance improvement|improve human performance]].<ref name="Roco and Bainbridge 2004">{{cite book| author = Roco, Mihail C. and [[William Sims Bainbridge|Bainbridge, William Sims]], eds.| title = [[Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance]]| publisher = Springer| year = 2004| id = ISBN 1402012543}}</ref> <!--The major methodologies<ref name="Naam 2004">{{cite book|author = [[Ramez Naam|Naam, Ramez]]|title = More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement|publisher = Broadway Press|year = 2004|id = ISBN 0-7679-1843-6}}</ref> that allow these enhancements include the following: **I've removed as the reference may have been taken wrongly to give academic weight to some of the speculative techs I have listed** ~~~~ --> ===Existing technologies=== *[[Reproductive technology]] **[[Embryo]] selection by [[preimplantation genetic diagnosis]] *[[Human]] [[Performance enhancing drugs]] **Physically: [[doping (sport)|doping]] **Mentally: [[Nootropic drug]]s *[[Plastic surgery]] ===Emerging technologies=== *[[Human genetic engineering]] *[[Neural implants]] ===Speculative technologies=== *[[Mind uploading]] ==Ethics== {{Seealso|Transhumanism}} While in some circles the expression "human enhancement" is roughly synonymous with [[human genetic engineering]],<ref name="Agar 2004">{{cite book|author = [[Nicholas Agar|Agar, Nicholas]]|title = Liberal Eugenics: In Defence of Human Enhancement|year = 2004|id = ISBN 1-4051-2390-7}}</ref><ref name="Parens 2000">{{cite book| author = Parens, Erik| title = Enhancing Human Traits: Ethical and Social Implications| publisher = Georgetown University Press| year = 2000| id = ISBN 0-87840-780-4}}</ref> it is used most often to refer to the general application of the [[technological convergence|convergence]] of [[nanotechnology]], [[biotechnology]], [[information technology]] and [[cognitive science]] ([[NBIC]]) to [[Performance improvement|improve human performance]].<ref name="Roco and Bainbridge 2004">{{cite book| author = Roco, Mihail C. and [[William Sims Bainbridge|Bainbridge, William Sims]], eds.| title = [[Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance]]| publisher = Springer| year = 2004| id = ISBN 1402012543}}</ref> Since the 1990s, several academics (such as some of the fellows of the [[Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies]]<ref name="Bailey 2006">{{cite paper| author = [[Ronald Bailey|Bailey, Ronald]]| title = The Right to Human Enhancement: And also uplifting animals and the rapture of the nerds| date = 2006 | url = http://www.reason.com/news/show/116489.html| accessdate=2007-03-03}}</ref>) have risen to become cogent advocates of the case for human enhancement while other academics (such as the members of [[The President's Council on Bioethics|President Bush's Council on Bioethics]]<ref name="Members of the President's Council on Bioethics 2003">{{cite book| author = Members of the President's Council on Bioethics| title = [http://www.bioethics.gov/reports/beyondtherapy/ Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness]| publisher = [[President's Council on Bioethics]]| year = 2003}}</ref>) have become its most outspoken critics.<ref name="Hughes 2004 (book)">{{cite book| author = Hughes, James| title = [[Citizen Cyborg]]: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future| publisher = Westview Press| year = 2004| id = ISBN 0-8133-4198-1}}</ref> Advocacy of the case for human enhancement is increasingly becoming synonymous with “[[transhumanism]]”, a controversial ideology and movement which has emerged to support the recognition and protection of the right of citizens to either maintain or [[body modification|modify]] their own [[cognitive liberty|mind]]s and [[morphological freedom|bodies]]; so as to guarantee them the [[freedom of choice]] and [[informed consent]] of using human enhancement technologies on themselves and their children.<ref Name="Ford 2005">{{cite web | last = Ford | first = Alyssa | authorlink = | title = Humanity: The Remix | work = [[Utne Magazine]] | publisher = | date = May / June 2005 | url = http://www.twliterary.com/jhughes_utne.html | accessdate = 2007-03-03}}</ref> [[Neuromarketing]] consultant Zack Lynch argues that [[neurotechnologies]] will have a more immediate effect on society than [[gene therapy]] and will face less resistance as a pathway of radical human enhancement. He also argues that the concept of "[[enablement]]" needs to be added to the debate over "therapy" versus "enhancement".<ref name="R. U. Sirius 2005">{{cite news| author = [[R. U. Sirius]]| title = The NeuroAge: Zack Lynch In Conversation With R.U. Sirius| publisher = Life Enhancement Products| date = 2005 | url = http://www.life-enhancement.com/neofiles/default.asp?id=34| accessdate=2007-02-02}}</ref> Although many proposals of human enhancement rely on [[fringe science]], the very notion and prospect of human enhancement has sparked public [[controversy]].<ref name="The Royal Society & The Royal Academy of Engineering 2004">{{cite paper| author = [[The Royal Society]] & The [[Royal Academy of Engineering]]| title = Nanoscience and nanotechnologies (Ch. 6)| date = 2004 | url = http://www.nanotec.org.uk/report/chapter6.pdf| accessdate=2006-12-05}}</ref><ref name="European Parliament 2006">{{cite paper| author = [[European Parliament]]| title = Technology Assessment on Converging Technologies| date = 2006| url = http://www.europarl.europa.eu/stoa/publications/studies/stoa183_en.pdf| accessdate=2006-12-06}}</ref> Many critics argue that "human enhancement" is a [[loaded language|loaded]] term which has [[eugenic]] overtones because it may imply the improvement of human [[hereditary]] traits to attain a universally accepted [[norm (sociology)|norm]] of [[Fitness (biology)|biological fitness]] (at the possible expense of human [[biodiversity]] and [[neurodiversity]]), and therefore can evoke negative reactions far beyond the specific meaning of the term. Furthermore, they conclude that enhancements which are self-evidently good, like "fewer diseases", are more the exception than the norm and even these may involve ethical tradeoffs, as the [[controversy about ADHD]] arguably demonstrates.<ref name="Carrico 2007">{{cite paper| author = [[Dale Carrico|Carrico, Dale]]| title = Modification, Consent, and Prosthetic Self-Determination| date = 2007 | url = http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/carrico20070226/| accessdate=2007-04-03}}</ref> However, the most common criticism of human enhancement is that it is or will often be practiced with a [[recklessness (criminal)|reckless]] and [[selfish]] short-term perspective that is ignorant of the [[Our Posthuman Future|long-term consequences on individuals and the rest of society]], such as the fear that some enhancements will create unfair physical or mental advantages to those who can and will use them, or unequal access to such enhancements can and will further the gulf between the "haves" and "have-nots".<ref name="Ian 2002">{{cite paper| author = [[Pat Roy Mooney|Mooney, Pat Roy]]| title = Beyond Cloning: Making Well People "Better"| date = 2002 | url = http://www.worldwatch.org/node/521| accessdate=2007-02-02}}</ref><ref name="Fukuyama 2002">{{cite book| author = [[Francis Fukuyama|Fukuyama, Francis]]| title = [[Our Posthuman Future]]: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution| publisher = Farrar Straus & Giroux| year = 2002| id = ISBN 0-374-23643-7}}</ref><ref name="IBHF">{{cite paper| author = [[Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future]]| title = Human "Enhancement"| url = http://www.thehumanfuture.org/themes/human_enhancement/background.html| accessdate=2007-02-02}}</ref> Accordingly, some advocates, who want to use more neutral language, and advance the [[public interest]] in so-called "human enhancement technologies", prefer the term "enablement" over "enhancement"; defend and promote rigorous, independent safety testing of enabling technologies; as well as affordable, universal access to these technologies.<ref name="Hughes 2004 (book)"/> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Wikiquote}} *[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbtdag/bioethics Enhancement Technologies Group] *[http://ieet.org Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies] *[http://www.transhumanism.org World Transhumanist Association] *[http://www.rte.ie/science/index.html RTÉ’s Big Science Debate 2007] [[Category:Bioethics]] [[Category:Human evolution]] [[Category:Transhumanism]] [[es:Perfeccionamiento humano]] [[it:Potenziamento umano]] [[nl:Menselijke verbeteringstechnologieën]] [[ja:人間強化]]