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Old 08-01-2012, 06:16 PM   #1592
HPLovecraft
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This is mostly philosophy, but it concerns the implementation of science-based technology.

Some fairly eminent philosophers in their new book call for "moral bioenhancements" to be made to humankind to cope with looming disasters that our moral psychology is not evolved enough to handle. Our moral core concerns small social groups, the near future, and causality, for instance, when, in the modern world with all that modern technology has given us, we are faced with global problems that may not fully manifest themselves until far into the future.

http://philosophynow.org/issues/91/Moral_Enhancement

Quote:
Modern technology provides us with many means to cause our downfall, and our natural moral psychology does not provide us with the means to prevent it. The moral enhancement of humankind is necessary for there to be a way out of this predicament. If we are to avoid catastrophe by misguided employment of our power, we need to be morally motivated to a higher degree (as well as adequately informed about relevant facts). A stronger focus on moral education could go some way to achieving this, but as already remarked, this method has had only modest success during the last couple of millennia. Our growing knowledge of biology, especially genetics and neurobiology, could deliver additional moral enhancement, such as drugs or genetic modifications, or devices to augment moral education.
The current issue has a bunch of articles about human moral enhancement through science, but the other ones are pay to view, unfortunately.
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