New
York Times: Biomedical and bioengineering advances promise
physical, genetic, and bionic advantages for humans, for
example in hearing, eyesight, prosthetics, disease resistance,
and capacity for endurance. But the Age of Enhancement will
also bring a new range of ethical challenges, with questions of
safety, cost, privileged versus general accessibility, and
effects on the social compact. Brain implants are beginning to
re-empower the paralyzed. What about augmenting the
nonimpaired—for example, elective enhancements to memory,
alertness, attention, and general cognitive efficiency? Might
society begin to demand such changes in key national leaders,
for example? What about surgeons, if enhancements can safely
boost concentration and steady the scalpel-holding hand? If
elective artificial enhancements became the norm in competitive
academic environments, and not just in athletics, would parents
and students feel forced to adopt them?
