This may seem far-out to you, but bear with me: it has near-term health business and policy implications that may not be obvious at first.
I’ve written a piece on the Huffington Post about the social and political implications of “transhumanism.” Transhumanists promote the radical transformation of the human body, including life extension and the merging of biology with computing technology. Transhumanists often also support parent’s rights to genetically re-engineer their children.
“Transhumanist” issues aren’t always far-future ones. Doctors in India, for example, are forbidden by law to tell an expectant mother whether she’s going to have a boy or a girl. That’s because abortions are common when a girl is expected. In a recent online poll at a transhumanist site, 94% of respondents objected to this law.
Why should healthcare professionals, business people, or policy makers be interested in the issues raised by transhumanism?
Healthcare professionals and practitioners will be affected, and sooner than you might think. There’s every reason to believe they’ll face some tricky ethical questions, probably in the next ten years, regarding the issues raised by transhumanists. They’ll hear about new life extension and anti-aging methodologies, and not all of them will be fringe science. But some will be untested, and risky.
