Pivoting off a recent blogospheric debate about what current behaviors future generations will judge immoral, I’d like to ask what brand new moral controversies the future will face. Technology will create many of these problems, especially it’s ability to enhance ourselves.
I’d argue that many interesting moral and legal questions will arise once bionic limbs unequivocally outperform human limbs. Will separate leagues be needed for bionically-altered humans? Some might object to banning of victims of tragedies and injuries, especially if bionically altered sports leagues are lower profile and lower paid than unaltered leagues. Will there need to be a separate Olympics for the bionically altered, or will the Paralympics just evolve into the the more high profile, more high performance event?
The only way the exclusion of altered athletes won’t be controversial is if their leagues are as high-profile and high paying as unaltered leagues. But if this happens then people will choose to have their limbs surgically removed and replaced with bionics, which opens up a whole other can of worms. Despite a small amount of demand for it, it is currently considered illegal and generally regarded immoral for doctors to remove healthy limbs (so technically this debate won’t be an altogether new one, but for the most part I’d call this debate currently non-existent). But will the availability of superior bionic replacements and a huge profit motive change this?
This will be especially be a problem in poorer countries where sports represent a way out of poverty and are held in high regard. Like they do with their current Olympiads, China will probably recruit bionically altered athletes at a very young age. Given the large level of sacrifice that todays Chinese families are willing to make for a chance to become an Olympian, I suspect many might be willing to have their limbs removed as well.
On the plus side, once bionically altered athletes are able to jump 30 feet in the air, baseball might actually become entertaining to watch.
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
Sunday ~ October 3rd, 2010 at 10:14 am
Pablo Garcia
Interesting stuff. I think it will be interesting how it will impact our life in the long run. Life could be extended substantially if we are able to continue healthy function of our vital organs, along with our mechanical bodies. Even then, we may have mechanial alternatives for our organs. At that point a healthy brain will be all thats required it seems like. Are we going to become robots in the future? I don’t know.
But I am excited for the developments.
And actually, maybe we will see a return of manufacturing jobs to america haha. With bodies as powerful as machines we won’t need to have robotics only doing all the work.
And the whole thing about sports. I doubt that would happen (seperate leauges for bionics and stuff). Robotic parts could be considered performance enhancing. Everyone hates those things, people want to see natural ability and its capabilities. But you never know.
Sunday ~ October 3rd, 2010 at 3:03 pm
teageegeepea
There are some people who deliberately remove their limbs now. Sometimes called “apotemnophilia”. Chip Smith gives them runner-up status for the cultural position of “the new fags”.
Monday ~ October 4th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Sister Y
As body modification gets better, it will get more attractive. But, as TGGP points out, the freedom to play with your body versus society’s right to keep you from doing that is an old question.
I just watched the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster, which poses the interesting question of why athletes are tested for “performance enhancing drugs,” but not, for instance, musicians, who apparently frequently use them.
One thing: I think Paralympic athletes find it offensive when people confuse their events with the Special Olympics.
Sunday ~ August 28th, 2011 at 10:37 am
In the future, people will cut off their limbs « Modeled Behavior
[...] Rob Spence, who had his prosthetic eye replaced with a video camera. He echoes a prediction I have long been making: People say no one would ever cut off their arm and replace it, if the tech gets there, which it [...]