Improving our own biology may sound like science fiction, but attempts to improve humanity have actually been made thousands of years ago. Every day we improve ourselves with painstaking exercise, meditation, or energy drinks such as coffee or popular nootropics among students. At the same time, the tools with which we improve our biology are improving, becoming more invasive and effective.
Over the past ten to twenty years, we have developed many powerful techniques, such as genetic engineering and brain-computer interfaces, that are redefining our humanity. In the short term, such improvement methods will find application in medicine and will become a cure for many diseases and ailments. In addition to this, in the coming decades, they may allow us to improve our own physical abilities or even digitize the human consciousness.
What's new?
Many futurists argue that our devices, such as smartphones, have already become to some extent an extension of our cerebral cortex and an abstract form of enhancement. According to philosophers Andy Clarke and David Chalmers, we use technology to expand the boundaries of human consciousness beyond skulls.
It can be argued that access to a smartphone increases a person's cognitive abilities and is an indirect form of self-improvement. You can consider it as an abstract form of a neurocomputer interface. In addition, wearable devices and computers are available on the market, and people - such as athletes - use them to increase their progress.
However, these interfaces are becoming less abstract.
Not so long ago, Elon Musk announced the creation of a new company, Neuralink, whose goal will be to merge the human mind with artificial intelligence. Over the past few years, there have been dramatic changes in the hardware and software of neurocomputer interfaces. Experts design new electrodes and program better algorithms to interpret neural signals. Scientists have already succeeded in giving paralyzed patients the ability to type text with the power of thought and even communicate the thought of one brain to another using only brain waves.
Promotional video:
Ethical improvement issues
Of course, these improvements have many social and ethical implications.
One of the most fundamental problems with cognitive and physical improvement is that it conflicts with the very definition of merit and success that society has relied on for millennia. Many forms of performance enhancing drugs were and are considered taboo.
Perhaps we should reconsider our attitude towards such things.
For example, we are used to evaluating hard work and talent properly, so that a person has worked in a certain way and deserves his reward. If you are talented and successful, it usually has to do with the fact that you worked hard and tried to not miss the opportunity when it came up. But by such standards, how many achievements can we really count as honest?
For example, the genetic lottery can have a huge impact on a person's disposition and personality, which in turn can affect factors such as motivation, reasoning, and other mental abilities. Many people are born with natural skills or physical aptitudes that give them an edge in a particular area or enable them to learn quickly. But how honest would it be to evaluate a person's outstanding work if genes did most of it?
In addition, there are already many ways in which we use "short moves" to improve mental performance. It would seem that ordinary habits or activities - coffee, meditation, exercise or sleep - in fact, significantly increase productivity in any area and are quite normally perceived by society. Even language can have positive physical and psychological effects on the human brain. Let us also not forget that some of us are born with more access to literacy development than others.
Given all these reasons, it can be argued that cognitive abilities and talents currently derive more from uncontrollable factors and luck than we would like to admit. In any case, neurocomputer interfaces can enhance individual autonomy and provide a choice of abilities.
As Karim Jebari points out, if a certain characteristic or trait is required to perform a certain role, and a person lacks this trait, would it be wrong to implement this trait through neurocomputer interfaces or genetic engineering? How will this differ from any traditional form of learning and skill acquisition? This will remove the limitations in the individual that have arisen involuntarily, for example, due to biological factors (or even traumatic experience).
Equality is another major ethical issue. As with any new technology, there are compelling concerns that cognitive enhancement technologies will only benefit the rich, thereby exacerbating existing inequalities. This is where government policies and regulations can play a key role in the impact of technology on society.
Improvement technologies can either add inequalities or help us solve this issue altogether. Education and aid for Third World countries will proceed at an accelerated pace, helping human progress in general. Changing the "normal range" of human ability and intelligence can significantly change the movement towards positive trends.
Many have also raised concerns about negative applications of biological enhancements by governments, including eugenics and the creation of super soldiers. There will always be safety issues, especially in the early stages of experimenting with improvement methods.
Neurocomputer interfaces, for example, can have an impact on autonomy. Such an interface uses information extracted from the brain to stimulate or modify systems to achieve specific goals. This part of the process can be enhanced by introducing an artificial intelligence system into the interface, which will enable a third party to potentially manipulate a person's habits, emotions, and desires by manipulating the interface.
The key to transcendence
It is important to discuss these risks without giving up on technology and move forward gradually, minimizing harm and optimizing benefits.
Stephen Hawking notes that "through genetic engineering, we can increase the complexity of our DNA and improve the human race." The potential benefits of biological modifications are undeniably revolutionary. Doctors will have access to a powerful disease-fighting tool that will enable us to live longer and healthier lives. We could extend our lives and solve the problem of aging by taking an important step towards becoming a cosmic species. We can start modifying the building blocks of the brain to become a smarter species, capable of solving great problems.
Perhaps evolution in the future will no longer be conditioned by natural processes. It will be driven by human choice and non-random mutations. Human improvement will enable us to take control of evolution and shape the future of our species.