Human enhancement may be just around the corner. How do Americans view these emerging technologies that may one day enhance our human capabilities?
A new gene-editing method called CRISPR exemplifies how the technology is rapidly becoming a present-day reality. Yet, Americans are wary of editing embryos, according to a survey on the broader field of “human enhancement.”
Emerging technologies that draw from biomedical technology, nanotechnology, information technology and other fields may lead to any number of ways people might be able to “upgrade” themselves. But a majority of Americans greet the possibility of these breakthroughs with more wariness and worry than enthusiasm and hope.
Americans are wary of the prospect of implanting a computer chip in their brains to improve their mental abilities or adding synthetic blood to their veins to make them stronger and faster. And this is particularly true of those who are highly religious.
Christian Brugger, a professor of moral theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, believes that people are right to be concerned about the social impact of human enhancement. Anders Sandberg, a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, thinks that, on balance, human enhancement will improve and enrich our lives.
Many in the general public expect scientific and technological innovation to bring helpful change to society. Yet, when Americans are asked about the potential use of emerging technologies that could push the boundaries of human abilities, they are far more cautious about the morality and effects of these advances.
Americans are more worried than enthusiastic about using gene editing, brain chip implants and synthetic blood to change human capabilities
Focus group participants discuss biomedical developments that could boost the performance of people’s bodies and brains
The scientific and ethical dimensions of striving for perfection
Americans who live in majority-minority communities are more likely than those who reside in predominately white neighborhoods to say that ride-hailing apps serve neighborhoods that taxis won’t visit.
