7 - Going cyber
Summary
“Help us to get rid of our bodies altogether,” said Winterslow. – “It's quite time man began to improve on his own nature, especially the physical side of it”
(D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover)We have always remodelled the external world according to our needs and desires. That is, of course, not very unusual. Most animals take active part in rebuilding their environment to construct a suitable niche for themselves (Odling-Smee et al. 2003). Yet no animal does it so thoroughly and extensively as we do. We have never really stopped being busy making our environment fit for us, have never tired of constantly rebuilding the world in such a way that it assists us in our will to live and to live well. That is part of what makes us human. However, when it comes to our survival and well-being, a potentially hostile environment is only part of the problem. The world we live in may, if unchecked, thwart our aspirations and even kill us, but it is our own human body that allows this to happen in the first place. So in order to be safe, it seems that controlling our environment is not enough; we also need to gain complete control over our bodies to compensate for their natural frailty.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Better Humans?Understanding the Enhancement Project, pp. 115 - 132Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013