By Erin Biba on Oct. 8, 2013 at 10:25 a.m.
This week were taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. Well present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. Well have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?
The scenario: You have carpal tunnel from repetitive tasks and your legs dont have much muscle left because you sit all day long anyway. Dont fret! Advances in prosthetics means cheap, easily attachable, bionic parts are available to you. Why not replace all your limbs? Mechanical hands can type faster than your stubby human ones, mechanical legs dont get shin splints or bum knees, and a new metal elbow will make playing catch with your dog WAY more fun (especially since your dog is a robot). Prosthetics are better than your real limbs, theyre super cheap now, and its a simple in-and-out procedure. What do you do?
How Realistic is This?
In a lot of ways, prosthetic limbs are already starting to look better than the regular old boring human ones. All the way back in 2009, an arm prosthetic called the iLimb came equipped with its very own iPhone app that allowed its users to customize a variety of personalized grips. Today its able to gradually increase the strength of its grip to adjust to different activities (like tying a shoe versus picking up a glass). And thats just arms. In 2012, Zac Vawter and his bionic leg climbed all 103-flight of Chicagos Willis (aka Sears) Tower in just under an hour. His $8 million dollar prosthesis, made by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicagos Center for Bionic Medicine, is connected directly to the nerves in his leg that would normally control his hamstring. Right now, the biggest hurdle preventing us all from replacing our limbs with bionic ones is the price tag.
Youll have to decide how you feel about cutting off your already working limbs. After all, theyve served you well enough for this long. And you have no idea how youll actually feel about your bionic replacements. Remember, once your limbs are gone, theres no going back (probably). And how prepared are you to come in for regular firmware and hardware upgrades? Youll also have to decide how your friends and colleagues will feel about your modifications -- because once youre part robot youll jump higher and run faster than any of them. Plus youll beat everyone in arm wrestling. But if youre a reporter youll be able to type super fast, so maybe its worth it.
Much like in other elective surgeries, your doctor will have to decide how he feels about basically maiming you in order to enhance you.
Here's what ethicists have to say on the matter.
Shockingly, this is already an issue were already confronting. Partial amputees are opting to have more of their limbs removed in order to make their replacement limbs more comfortable and easier to use. And we all know about the Olympic argument about whether or not runner Oscar Pistorius had an advantage over other athletes thanks to his carbon fiber blade legs. But what about elective surgery in people that arent already injured?
Some ethicists note that humankind is pretty well hindered by the limitations of our bodies. Talking to The Guardian, Andy Miah, director of the Creative Futures Institute and professor of ethics and emerging technologies at the University of the West of Scotland said: What's crucial about these technologies is they don't just repair us, they make us better than well. The human enhancement market will reveal the truth about our biological conditions we are all disabled."
Go here to see the original:
A Transhuman Conundrum: Elective Bionic Limb Replacement ...
- Transhuman's Amanda Johnstone on the future of AI and emotions - The Examiner - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Transhumanism: billionaires want to use tech to enhance our abilities the outcomes could change what it means to ... - The Conversation - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- The Nazis and Their Transhumanist Delusion - Discovery Institute - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Conspiracy Theories, Some with Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 ... - ADL - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- 10 of The Wildest Fictional Drugs from Transmetropolitan - Screen Rant - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Sam Altman's Second Coming Sparks New Fears of the AI Apocalypse - WIRED - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- The New Progressive Nihilism - Compact Mag - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Is Laughter All Weve Got? On David Baddiels The God Desire - lareviewofbooks - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Luxury industry set to reach $1.6 trillion in sales this year - Glossy - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- SKILLET's JOHN COOPER Explains Why He Believes 'Queer ... - BLABBERMOUTH.NET - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- DC This Week Roundup - Superheroes Across Space and Time - GeekDad - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Transcending Time. The Transhumanist Challenge To | by ... - Medium - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- From Trans Healthcare to Transhumanism: Reality vs. Conspiracy at ... - Colorado Times Recorder - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Opinion | The Reactionary Futurism of Marc Andreessen - The New York Times - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Pursuing the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - Cedars-Sinai - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Curse God and Die, They Said. It Will Be Fun, They Said - The Stream - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Cardinal Hollerich: The openness of the Synod on Synodality 'will ... - Catholic World Report - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Virtual insanity Winnipeg Free Press - Winnipeg Free Press - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Interview In praise of failure - Morning Star Online - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- I used Grimes' AI vocals to make a hit here's how I did it - NME - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- ric Sadin and the Challenges of Artificial Intelligence - Exploring your Mind - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Crazy Town: Episode 73. How Longtermism Became the Most ... - Resilience - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Why Warhammer 40K fans keep arguing about the Emperors terrible sons - Polygon - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Are We Co-Creators with God? - Answers In Genesis - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Why Is Everything 'Punk' Now? - TheGamer - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Let 3 from Croatia: "We want to heal the world from hate and stupidity" - Eurovisionworld - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Prominent Dutch Philosopher and Convert Charts Her Path to the Catholic Church - National Catholic Register - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Is There a Best Way to Think About the Future of Earth? - Inverse - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- 'Infinity Pool' Review: Skarsgrd and Goth Star in Disgusting and Hypnotic Horror - The Indiependent - March 24th, 2023 [March 24th, 2023]
- What is transhumanism? | GotQuestions.org - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- Elon Musk & Neuralink to start human trials of his computer chip brain ... - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Transhuman Space - Wikipedia - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Dr. Carrie Madej: why vaccines alter the human DNA - Stop World Control - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Transhuman online - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhumanist Bill of Rights Version 3.0 - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Aliens - TV Tropes - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- DARPA's New Biotech Division Wants To Create A Transhuman Future - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Space | GURPS Wiki | Fandom - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Overhaul [Half-Life 2] [Mods] - GameBanana - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhumanism: The Final Frontier? - Evening Standard - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Former GOP candidates push baseless QAnon conspiracy theory that Hurricane Ian was created to punish DeSantis - The Independent - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Is the body key to understanding consciousness? - The Guardian - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Cyborg Sapiens Book Opening Window on Future Presented in Athens - The National Herald - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- America embraces the fourth industrial revolution - The Post - UnHerd - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- You need to watch 2022's best video game adaptation ASAP - Inverse - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Top 10 Magic Churches Through Which To Work Out My Real World Feelings About Religion - Hipsters of the Coast - Hipsters of the Coast - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Dr. Carrie Madej Out of Georgia | American Media Periscope - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Not Applicable Website for Not Applicable label and artists ... - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Review: BBC PROMS AND THE ENO at Printworks London - Broadway World - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- The fruit of the transhumanist project will not be a better human being - TVP World - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- WEF agenda envisions an augmented society ruled by Internet of Bodies, digital ID - The Sociable - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Prebunking Disinformation | prebunking disinformation - Patheos - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- What Is A Human? - The American Conservative - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Stray - A simple and focused game in a world of games that go astray - Flayrah - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- McDermott: Pinner may have been crackers, but in today's GOP, she was practically normal - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Axiom Verge 2 The Games Sole Creator, Thomas Happ, Discusses How Science Fiction Impacted Bot... - Happy Gamer - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- From Silk Road to NFTs: Why Musician and Artist Tycho Sees Web3 as the Endgame - Decrypt - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- The Three-City Problem of Modern Life - WIRED - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Transhumanists want to upload their minds to a computer. They really won't like the result - Big Think - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- A fake salsa band ignites the rebirth of an old New York record label - EL PAS USA - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- WISeKey Strengthens its Technology Portfolio Across Cybersecurity, IoT, NFT and the Metaverse - MarTech Series - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Artist Stelarcs creature comes to life at Science Gallery - The Age - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- The Wearable Cyberpunk Future on the Horizon - Hackster.io - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- This Boulder art exhibit is beautiful and ugly all at once - The Denver Post - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- WISeKey Announces the Launch of "The Code to The Metaverse" an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GuruFocus.com - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- The 10 best games of 2022 (so far) - The A.V. Club - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Transhuman Elon Musk: Your Brain Will Get Its Own USB-C Port - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- SRMs Road to The US Open Seattle Part 6: Transhuman in the Box - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Elon Musk unveils Optimus: A humanoid robot where you will ... - Marca - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GlobeNewswire - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Secrets and Lies Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria - Tor.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- The Cyberpunk Genre Is Broken, And The Creator Of Citizen Sleeper Agrees - Kotaku - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- 4 Lessons the Era of Technology Has Taught Us - Sprout Wired - April 27th, 2022 [April 27th, 2022]
- danish pavilion unveils transhuman installation 'we walked the earth' at venice art biennale - Designboom - April 25th, 2022 [April 25th, 2022]
- There Is No New Normal - Caffeinated Thoughts - April 25th, 2022 [April 25th, 2022]
- Watch: First Trailer for Body Horror movie 'Crimes of the Future' - We Got This Covered - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- 4 Female Digital Artists on the Future of NFTs and the Metaverse - HYPEBAE - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Returns in New Trailer - The Daily Beast - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- 'The Flight Attendant' Season 2 Trailer Introduces a Kaley Cuoco Multiverse - The Daily Beast - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Re-Open the Floodgates of American Energy to Prevent an Oil-pocalypse - California Globe - April 4th, 2022 [April 4th, 2022]