Unnatural Selection

This book arises for a conference held at the James Martin Institute in Oxford, and has the unfortunate subtitle: 'the challenges of engineering tomorrow's people.' The notion of engineering is mechanistic and behaviourist, lending a false sense of precision to the human being. Of course, nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science offer possibilities of enhancing human performance, lengthening life span and reshaping our inherited physical, cognitive and emotional identities. The editors realise that this entails risks and complex choices as well as fundamental ethical issues. In addition, these developments are deeply divisive and raised deeper questions about what it really means to be human. Much depends on whether the orientation of your definition is internal or external. For most people in our society, it is the latter, as it is for science.

There is much stimulating material from a variety of perspectives asking if we can live longer, become stronger, smarter and happier at the same time as developing more just and governable social structures. However, I did find a major disconnect in the postscript written by Peter Schwartz looking back from 2050. By focusing solely on technological developments, he ignores the very real ecological, agricultural and sociological issues that we now face. It is not clear whether he thinks these have also been solved, but the impression is one of a brave new world in which science has enhanced our capacities and we have 'mastered in our evolution.' Where is the discussion on the health implications of the obesity epidemic, which is set to increase? Where is the understanding that health arises more from the natural lifestyle than from pharmacological interventions? And it is presumed that only in 2050 is oil beginning to run out. It would have been good if this discussion had been set within the wider social and ecological context and informed by the programme at the same Institute being run by Sir Crispin Tickell.