Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution

There is no doubt that Francis Fukuyama is a thinker who performs pretty well in a strategic scale. He aptly outlines one of the leading subjects who will shape the political, cultural, religious and economic clashes of the XX1 century and is as his best both synthesizing a lot of relevant information and detecting as well the transcendence of some debates apparently out of the public and media limelight (such as the Searle-Dennett on the role and nature of consciousness) not only because their implications, but also because they are symptoms of how scientism has taken over more and more territories of the human identity to a point that is not so far away to deny it. But above all the best asset of this book consists on his clear understanding on which is at stake. The disruptive potential of the more extreme forms of technological hubris such as genetic "improvement "applied to human genome it is clearly stated: because as unintended consequence it could lead not only to a sort of "arms race" between states but also within society itself (among private citizens with de facto different access to resources) inequality would acquire another dimension and meaning. Under a perspective where a society of classes could take the path of a society of castes, the whole foundations of political order, as was understood in the western tradition would crumble. The peril is simply that differences in socioeconomic terms turn into a difference in biological terms. The mere possibility of that gap is just unbearable for a modern society. If that happen class struggle never had before a stronger motivation.No less important is his identification of how inadequate is the utilitarian philosophy that pervades economical thinking which its mantra "minimize pain/maximize pleasure" when it invades other areas of human action especially medical practice. The peril consists on blurring the difference between healing and enhancement. Actually it disorients society in important issues such as how to deal with drugs consumption. We have not to wait to extreme forms of human nature manipulation to detect that trend in the current abuses in using Prozac or Ritalin. Some cases for which the safer bet is to enforce nerve, self control and character are taking short cuts when the easy way is a technological manipulation of behavior.In this sense Fukuyama's strongest point is that even a democratic assumption of enhancement and improvement for everyone -when genetic engineering takes the helm as the leading technology to achieve those goals- is that it is not preposterous to think the biological differentiation of beings it would yield as a result may resemble rather a sort of Nietzschean dystopia where the best intentions of that pursuit have not place at all: a new order where shared human ideals have not to be recognized any longer.Fukuyama without wasting time identifies to which extend the whole conceptual building of the ethical and political tradition -at least of the west- depends on two crucial assumptions: there is a human nature and there is a human dignity. But in taking these issues he falls short. He understands that the challenge to face now is to find new secular foundations to both ideas grounded in the disintegrating bedrock of metaphysics, religion and theology, but far to solve the conundrum (after all the book is only 218 pp long) he rather gets to draw with precision the map of the future battles to come. The author intends a solution alternative to the Kantian sharp distinction between actions based on knowledge and action based on ethics (categorical imperatives) at the time he insists that science does not have -and cannot have- the last world in defining ultimate human values and goals. But he bets anyway in some sort of knowledge in route to find new foundations to the very idea of human nature, so what kind of knowledge could be that? Maybe the sort of knowledge we can find in literature which is not systematic almost by definition, maybe the sort of knowledge that some thinkers as Merlin Donald intends (by the way with very interesting results indeed) which are at mid point between philosophy and scientific knowledge: an argumentation where the latter still is the tool, not the master.However and beyond what FF achieved or not I am tempted to say that every citizen should read it. But because it sounds as an overstatement I only wish that someday it will be discussed in every college at any level, alongside with Neil Postman's amazingly intelligent, witty little book entitled "Technopoly".

What is "human nature"? And will failure to initiate widespread government oversight of scientific research that could change this definition open a Pandora's Box of dire consequences?Fukuyama suggests that failure to impose substantial government dictates over the "when's" and "how's" of future research centering on the human body and mind will precipitate a significant sea change in the inherent nature of our species, how we interact with one another, and a potential threat to Liberal Democracy. The implicit message is that unfettered scientific inquiry will lead to developments we will come to deeply regret.While Fukuyama correctly illustrates the "easy fixes" that our society has latched onto (Prozac, Ritilin: Who said freedom to choose would mean wise choices?), his thesis fails to acknowledge the considerable roadblocks that authorities have placed in the way of the evolution of our species throughout history."Human nature" has, in fact, demonstrated a rather elastic nature over time. If one accepts the premise that human nature is fixed in an eternal quest for freedom, self-development and dignity and is manifested in superior intelligence, then one would want to remove any artificial roadblocks to creating the maximum environment in which these attributes could flourish. How else to explain the demise of almost all competing political models to Liberal Democracy? Yet, Fukuyama proposes a step backward, based on what appears to be a fixed, non-elastic definition of human nature.Were a caveman to be plopped down in the late 20th Century and witness the first heart transplant, would he recoil in disgust and declare the practice inimical to the basic fabric of human existence? Quite likely. Does that mean, with the limited intelligence of a less developed brain - but with a brain nonetheless and all basic body parts and feelings that "Modern Man" exhibits - that the caveman would be right? I don't believe anyone would answer in the affirmative.As dispassionate and thoughtful as Fukuyama's work appears on the surface, his call to action would have us expand the yoke of State control at a time when his beloved model of Liberal Democracy is finally expanding across the globe, toppling barriers to the practical application of human intelligence everywhere.Which, in its own way, is rather ironic.

Awesome book to clear how science creates blunders. One should read it with "political gene" and the fictional work brave new world.

No he recibido mi producto... sigo esperando

遺伝子工学の進歩を必死で止めようとするフクヤマは、広範な知識を活用して、人の遺伝子操作に反対する。しかし、この動きは、先天性遺伝疾患の治療という形で、すでに大きく成長し、今後更なる進歩発展が期待されている。胎児がダウン症と診断されたれた妊婦の96％が、人工妊娠中絶を要求することは、きわめて自然で、誰も止める権利はない。すでに、粗暴行為を引き起こす遺伝子が特定されつつあるという。国家的または医師会等の圧力で、この遺伝子をもつ胎児を堕胎させようとする動きは、危険なお誤記として警戒しなければならない。院フォームドコンセントと自己責任の下で、子供を産むか、産まないか、あるいは男児を産むか、女児を産むか、産むなら何時産むか、等は、国・行政・医師が決めることではない。妊婦とその夫が決めることである。他者の介入に対して厳罰を科すことで、「滑りやすい坂道」を滑り落ちないようにしたい。

図書館で借りて、読んだ本が面白かったので、購入しました。人間の終わりという、すさまじい題名の本ですが、著者がこれからの生殖businessや遺伝子組み換え技術に対する、警告だと思います。昨今、この日本でも放射能汚染や水銀をはじめとする、化学物質の汚染が危惧されています。人為的な操作以外にも、人間の遺伝子が劇的な突然変異を起こすのではないかと思われるような時代に突入してきました。特に、日本人には読んでいただかいたと思いました。