Abstract
In 2018, a geneticist breached a forbidden norm, when using CRISPR gene-editing technology, he altered the genome of a pair of twins. On a related front, researchers across the world are using genomic studies involving thousands of subjects, to search for the intelligence genes, presumably to enhance human cognition. In yet another ongoing development, scientists are inventing synthetic biology computers to link the brain directly to the digital world. The convergence of these technologies signals an incipient posthuman society, one where a new species will evolve with superior intellect and creative abilities. The author breaks-down the sciences of genomics, neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence technology that will have the greatest impact. Significantly, he addresses how and why we must preserve our humanity, by engaging in the creative process, music, art, literature, and expressing our personal narrative, to insure that as a uniquely creative species, we simply don’t vanish in the ether of an evolution brought about through science and technology
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Notes
- 1.
Plato spoke about the need for every human to be acknowledged by others as human, and deserving of respect. Some attribute recognition, by others, as the driving force leading to creation of works of art, discovery of new lands and the founding of empires. And although transhumans may exhibit enhanced intellects, as will be argued below, Francis Fukuyama, in The End of History and the Last Man (1992), suggested, a need for hyper-recognition can lead to domination and oppression of others, and devolve into a life of hedonistic, materialistic pleasure and self-obsession.
- 2.
Facticity is the third person viewpoint that others have about me, e.g., weight, gender, skin color, as well as demographic and psychological characteristics. But as a first person I can choose, who and what I am. Other senses of transcendence refer to exceeding the limits of ordinary experience. Jean-Paul Sartre speaks of transcendence in describing the relation of the self to the object oriented world and to others. I leave it to the reader to pick up on the various connotations of the word throughout the book.
- 3.
Cimmerians are mythical peoples described by Homer as dwelling in a remote realm of mist and gloom.
- 4.
In 1866, the German biologist August Weissman provided the basis for our understanding of two types of genes, germ line and soma line. Germ line genes are comprised of sex cells and passed along to subsequent generations, while the soma line cells are a result of environment, determining physical and behavioral characteristics. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017, “Germline editing” refers to all manipulations of germline cells (primordial germ cells, gamete progenitors, gametes, zygotes, and embryos). “Heritable genome editing” is a form of germline editing that includes transfer of edited material for gestation, with the intent to generate a new human being possessing the potential to transmit the genetic “edit” to future generations. See, Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24623. Somatic cell editing is underway for purposes of treating genetic diseases pertaining to the various tissues of the body, but in contrast to heritable germline editing the effects of changes made to somatic cells are limited to the treated individual and would not be inherited by future generations.
- 5.
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) is a breakthrough technology enabling the correction of errors in the genome. With CRISPR, scientists can turn on or off genes in cells and organisms quickly, cheaply and with relative ease to fix diseases such as HIV, cancer, and other genetically based diseases (see, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975809).
- 6.
Reducing CCR5 activity may improve learning and memory according to one study (see, https://elifesciences.org/articles/20985).
- 7.
Neo-Darwinian theory holds evolution is based upon a population of organisms that (a) vary in heritable traits influencing their chances for reproduction and survival; (b) have off-spring resembling their parents more than they resemble randomly chosen members of the population; and (c) produce more offspring on average than are needed to replace members removed from the population by emigration and death.
- 8.
Joel Garreau, argues that we are engineering the next stage of human evolution through advances in genetic, robotic, information and nanotechnologies, by altering our minds, memories, metabolisms and where unrestrained technology may bring about the ultimate destruction of our entire species. Joel Garreau, Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies—And What It Means to Be Human (Doubleday, 2005).
- 9.
Monozygotic or identical twin studies combined with imaging of brain structures and features confirm a genetic basis for particular forms of intelligence.
- 10.
- 11.
For example, a hippocampal electronic prosthesis, implanted to improve memory or replace the function of damaged brain tissue.
- 12.
Synthetic biology is a scientific discipline that relies on chemically synthesized DNA to create organisms with generally novel, enhanced characteristics or traits. The subject combines disciplines from biotechnology, genetic engineering, molecular biology, molecular engineering, systems biology, membrane science, biophysics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, control engineering and evolutionary biology.
- 13.
Any patented invention illustrates the point of convergence, which will be taken up in chapters that follow.
- 14.
In 1978, Louise Brown was the first child conceived with IVF and according to a 2012 report by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, more than 61,000 babies were conceived with the help of IVF. It costs about $12–15,000 for an IVF procedure.
- 15.
IES has been used to produce fertile offspring in mice and gamete-like cells in humans.
- 16.
U.S. law does not limit the number of children a sperm donor may produce, while other countries do restrict the numbers (Anywhere from one in Taiwan to 25 in the Netherlands). No U.S. law prevents selecting embryos, providing federal funds are not used, so there’d be no prohibition to select embryos with “high IQ.” Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in the UK is regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which permits identification of embryos with a schedule of rare genetic diseases for which the parents are known carriers. And UK’s restrictions allow prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome, a disability that produces low to moderate intellectual disability, so in some sense, they have one foot in a eugenic practice that reduces the probability of lower IQ children being born.
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Carvalko Jr., J.R. (2020). Introduction. In: Conserving Humanity at the Dawn of Posthuman Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26407-9_1
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