Joshua Paschal

I am going to start a new line of posts now: I want to shift to technology. To begin this category of posts, I want to ask a big picture question. How far are you willing to go?

How far is technology allowed to go in pursuit of making a better human? Or going beyond the human?

This question may not be clear at first, so let me give you some images. In recent years, bone replacements have become available. Hip replacements, for example, have allowed us to improve, with technology, the conditions of individuals. A step further and we have stem cell and gene therapies and their associated controversies. A step even further and we have emerging technologies like Neuralink. From there on we go into the realm of science fiction: cyborgs, uploaded consciousness, & brains in vats.

How far should humanity go?

For an example of a problematic case, there is a fair concern that human enhancement at some point begins to abandon humanity. Consider the case of genetic enhancement of children before they are conceived via genetic alteration of the gene code. What distinguishes this from eugenics with extra steps? Or what about possibly loses to diversity and biodiversity? Random mutations may turn out to be beneficial unexpected, such as some individuals having natural immunity to some viral symptoms. Or what is to say some traits may become taboo: a sign of natural-birth and genetic inferiority? What about class drift: would genetic enhancement not promote a drifting apart of the rich and the poor, where-in the rich have their children genetically enhanced to plainly outperform the poor? At that point, would an entire group of people be treated as subhuman?

But what about technology? I think of the idea of the “eye-phone” from Futurama: a small device that is put behind the eye and connects a smart device directly into the consciousness of its user. Technology and consciousness at that point become inseparable. Surely problems could emerge there: image such a linkage being exploited. Or imagine similar social stratification problems like those discussed above. Where should the lines be drawn?

I’ll leave it at that for now, feel free to let me know what you think.

P.S. With the holidays and the academic crunch period, I will likely not be posting as regularly as I would like even following the previous break. But, as always, if you want me to discuss something I am more than happy to when I have the chance.