“First of all, there is a very blurry boundary between human treatment and human enhancement. We have entered a field, where medical and technological achievements can both serve the persons in need and increase capacities of others. For example, we have found remedies for blind people to recover eyesight. But the same research enables to beam images from one person’s mind into another!
Secondly, the field of the “acceptable” evolves over time. Some medical advancements which were taboos yesterday become mainstream, such as transfusion, vaccination, antibiotics, birth control, IVF, gender reassignment surgery… So what about human cloning, downloading the mind in digital formats, controlling an exoskeleton or a second body from our mind? The transhumanist effort asks questions about our sense of identity, our consciousness and the potentiality of an eternal life.
Finally, we need to create an ethical framework to handle these topics, and there’s active debate around what is progress and what represents a danger for humankind…”
Watch the entire episode on the peopleHum’s plateform / Leadership series to know more.
