Yesterday I read an article on News24 about two brothers that each have two additional kidneys. This little ‘enhancement’ gives them the ability to process alcohol much quicker than the average man. Big bonus there, if you ask me. But this little thing got me thinking.
Why not enhance the human race? In Star Trek (I warned you), the Klingons are one of the races that are most resilient to death. Basically this is because of their biological makeup. Two hearts, two livers and four lungs obviously make them slightly harder to kill than the average man (even though the humans never seem to have a problem beating up a Klingon that is twice the size and three times the strength of a mere human). Of course the Klingons have evolved this way due to their extremely violent past and still violent warrior culture.
While we might not quite have the technology yet there is a chance that very soon in the future we will. I have read articles on people with cybernetic eyes and ears. Prosthetic limbs are becoming better and better too - sure they aren’t perfect yet, but give it some time I assure you. The question remains: should we or should we not enhance our very fragile bodies into something slightly more resilient to death and more suited to certain tasks at hand?
I say that we should. Just think of the advantages that would come from this. With cloning and implantation, what could be fatal injuries could be cured - even heart function could be optimised to give peak performance at all times. With the presence of two additional kidneys the production and distribution of adrenalin would be greatly improved, making the human body react far better than ever before in times of crisis, not to mention the advantages connected to the consumption of alcohol.
Hell, with this enhancement we could actually finally have exciting Olympic games again. With records being vastly improved instead of split seconds being shaved off, or even worse - no one even coming close to one of them.
With cybernetics we could increase strength and durability by an almost unlimited amount. Replacing the vital organs with new and improved cybernetic ones will increase all the human functions to all-new levels. Even a small heater attached to the cybernetic heart will greatly decrease the fatalities from hypothermia once the human heating system fails at extreme cold.
Cybernetic eyes would give us a great advantage while driving at night over that of the MK1 eyeball. Brain augmentation will allow for greater access to a vast amount of data when needed. Most importantly, I would love to have a wireless Internet connection plugged straight into my brain.
Our minds have given us the power to start overcoming death already. Heart transplants and pace makers are now commonplace. Kidney transplants and even dialysis are now widely in use. Even insulin for diabetics is an enhancement of sorts. All of these are enhancements, if somewhat unrefined, to a body that is either failing or which would have failed were it not for the enhancements.
Then of course there are those who will argue that it will strip away our humanity, or who question “What will happen to our souls?” These are valid arguments and have been fought from both sides for centuries, but how badly would this really influence us? One could see this as just another simple (okay not so simple) step in evolution. If we have the mental capacity to reach this level why not use it? We have in other areas.
How is augmentation any worse than creating a car? The human body was not designed to travel at 120 km/h (or more). Is this not a form of augmentation? How is it any different from the creation and use of an airplane or a space shuttle? We were not built to fly or even remotely go into space. All we have done is use our intellect to enhance ourselves to allow for that. Have any of those enhancements in any way decreased our humanity? I think not. In fact - we have greatly improved from them. So much, in fact, that almost everyone - except of course the Mormons - owns a car, and in no way (other than road rage due to traffic) has that caused us to lose our humanity.
As for the spirit issue - what is the spirit, and who says that it is even remotely tied into human flesh and blood? And what would be the difference if we substitute one machine, if biological, for another - even though it will be technological? That God did not create it? How is this argument valid? If man creates a machine that in turn creates cars or even cellphones, is it the machine or man that created the finished product? Do we not see it as a man made product? So what is the difference?
I think Chris Barnard said it best with “Die hart is a pomp.”
We are expanding and bettering ourselves all the time, as is our nature, and we have many challenges ahead of us. With the ocean and even Mars beckoning us should we not start preparing for that? Our current flesh is far to weak to stand up against the challenges that we will face very soon in our future. We will have to do something -and soon - to increase our abilities to handle the obstacles that will very soon face us.
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