[ExI] Taxonomy of Human Enhancement

[John Tracy Cunningham]

I am almost certainly jumping the gun here.  I have done only a little
research and given the matter some thought.  It seems to me, at least
initially, that:

Therapy is, as previously stated, the return to normal range of a
capability in a particular human (I speak here of humans for ease of
reference, but I think this can be applied elsewhere).

Enhancement is the improvement of a capability in a particular human beyond
the individual's normal range, up to and including the best or highest
performance observed in the human species.

Extension is the improvement of a capability in a particular human beyond
the best or highest performance observed in the human species.

Augmentation is the addition of a capability to a particular human, which
that human did not previously possess.  There is the possibility of
extension after augmentation.

Am I somewhere in the ballpark?

Thanks and regards

John

On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 6:41 PM, Natasha Vita-More <natasha at natasha.cc>wrote:

> HI Mirco,
>
> Thanks.  Actually, I thought I had said this clearly in my original email,
> but I guess not.  I was looking for the historical use of the phrase
> "humane
> enhancement", not humans altering biology, which is ancient (we can go as
> far back as the Alchemists).
>
> Best,
> Natasha
>
> Natasha Vita-More
> PhD Researcher, Univ. of Plymouth, UK
> Chairman, Humanity+
> Co-Editor, The Transhumanist Reader
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
> [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Mirco
> Romanato
> Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 8:49 AM
> To: ExI chat list
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Taxonomy of Human Enhancement
>
> Il 10/01/2012 15:15, Natasha Vita-More ha scritto:
> > Putting varied pieces together, I have a pretty clear understanding
> > now. It is a synthesis of preceding and subsequent social events and
> > technological paradigmatic shifts that spawned cybernetics' HCI and
> > BCI and biotechnology's gene therapy. Issues of therapy vs.
> > enhancement arose.  The New York Times article and Science mag
> > article in 1972 spawned a concern and bioethics became a theoretical
> > business.
>
> Don't know if it is fit to the request, but the "human enhancement" idea
> is old.
> I have not direct access to the original strips of 1940's Captain
> America but the talk is about a super-soldier serum able to enhance the
> subject abilities at the peak of human ability.
>
> Probably the idea come from the then newly developed substances:
>
>
> > http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/steroids.asp
> >
> > "The history of anabolic steroids can be traced back to as early as
> > 1930's, before the term steroid was even used. In the 1930's, a team
> > of scientists was able to create a synthetic form of testosterone (a
> > male hormone) to help treat men who were unable to produce enough of
> > the hormone for normal growth, development, and sexual functioning.
> > Later, during World War II it was found that this artificial form of
> > testosterone could be used to help malnourished soldiers gain weight
> > and improve performance."
> >
> > http://www.resistance88.com/topics/sport/nazisteroids1.htm#.TxGU3_kmbTo
> >
> >  Medicinally, steroids obviously have a very legitimate purpose for
> > being. Athletically, their profound effect on the performance and
> > appearance of users can neither be ignored nor denied. However,
> > steroids didn't start being utilized for non-medical reasons for
> > about a decade after being created. In the 40s, Nazi doctors provided
> > steroids to their soldiers in an effort to make them more aggressive.
> > The Soviet Union followed suit in the 50s by giving them to their
> > athletes to enhance performance and strength..
>
> Mirco
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