[extropy-chat] Anti-transhumanist op-ed: Is the world ready for a superboy - or a dogboy?

[Bret Kulakovich]

Geez. I hope this fellow never needs any Insulin. Neigh.


]3

On Nov 14, 2005, at 9:38 PM, Neil H. wrote:

> The Dallas Morning News has an anti-transhumanist op-ed by a senior  
> fellow at the Discovery Institute (a conservative Christian think- 
> tank).
>
> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/ 
> stories/DN-smith_13edi.ART.State.Edition1.2f25c31.html
>
> Some quotes:
>
> Look out, America: The trajectory of science is coming into  
> conflict with venerable human values and even our self-definition  
> as a species, raising urgent ethical issues that will have to be  
> answered before it is too late.
> ...
>
> The "sanctity/equality of life ethic" holds that all human beings  
> have equal moral worth, regardless of their abilities or  
> capacities. This objective standard is now threatened by  
> "personhood theory," which holds that rights only belong to  
> "persons," a status earned by possessing minimal cognitive  
> capacities. If personhood theory supplants sanctity of life as the  
> governing ethic of society, it would open the door to harvesting  
> organs from people like Terri Schiavo or permitting  
> biotechnologists to "farm" cloned fetuses for use in drug testing  
> or experiments in genetic engineering.
> ...
> If scientists can insert human DNA into animal embryos, then animal  
> DNA could just as easily be inserted into human embryos. Such  
> experiments are far from unthinkable. A social movement called  
> "transhumanism" advocates the creation of a "post human species,"  
> which would include using animal genes in progeny to increase  
> strength or make senses more acute.
> ...
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