Ready? Human Enhancement Is Set To Affect Sports, Schools, Bodies, Brains (Souls?), And The Battlefield

Ready? Human Enhancement Is Set To Affect Sports, Schools, Bodies, Brains (Souls?), And The Battlefield



Campaigners are increasingly concerned by the possibility of enhanced military “superwarriors,” especially as technologists strive to separate the soldier from immediate conflict areas—as, for example, unmanned aircraft systems (commonly called drones) do now. Meanwhile, autonomous robots and human/robot hybrids connected by powerful computer-brain interfaces might conceivably be deployed in the future. Such developments raise cultural adjustment issues within military institutions, and larger questions of where the “human” begins and ends when we’re dealing with cyborgs and integrated techno-human systems. In addition, however, they raise questions of “cheating,” as discussions in some recent workshops and war games illustrated. The argument is that real warriors don’t hide behind remotely controlled machines; it is only fair that soldiers be killed by other soldiers. And many are indeed frightened by the coming “superwarriors” who, through genetic engineering and cyborg technologies are more weapon system than soldier.

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http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/05/human_enhancement_ethics_is_it_cheating.html