Francis Fukuyama - University of Kentucky

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC Transhumanism Author(s): Francis Fukuyama Reviewed work(s): Source: Foreign Policy, No. 144 (Sep. - Oct., 2004), pp. 42-43 Published by: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC Stable URL: . Accessed: 19/08/2012 03:13 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .

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The World's Most Dangerous Ideas

TRANSHUMANISM

By Francis Fukuyama

or thelastseveraldecades,a strangelibera- shortlives.Throw in humanity'sjealousies,violence,

tion movementhas grown within the devel- andconstantanxieties,andthetranshumanisptroject

oped world. Its crusadersaim much higher beginsto look downrightreasonable.If it were tech-

than civil rights campaigners, feminists, or gay- nologicallypossible,why wouldn'twe want to tran-

rightsadvocates.Theywant nothinglessthanto lib- scendourcurrentspecies?Theseemingreasonableness

eratethe humanracefromits biologicalconstraints. of the project,particularlywhen consideredin small

As "transhumanists"see it, humans must wrest incrementsi,s partof its danger.Societyis unlikelyto

theirbiologicaldestinyfromevolution'sblindprocess fall suddenlyunder the spell of the transhumanist

of randomvariationandadaptationandmoveto the worldview.Butit is verypossiblethatwe willnibbleat

next stage as a species.

biotechnology'stemptingofferingswithout realizing

Itistemptingto dismisstranshumanisats somesort thattheycome at a frightfulmoralcost.

of oddcult,nothingmorethansciencefictiontakentoo

The first victim of transhumanism might be

seriouslyW: itnesstheirover-

equality.The U.S. Decla-

the-topWebsitesandrecent press releases ("Cyborg

ration of Independence

"Ifwe starttransforming saysthat "allmen arecre-

Thinkers to Address Humanity'sFuture,"pro-

ourselvesinto something

ated equal,"and the most serious political fights in

claims one). The plans of some transhumanists to

superior,what rightswill

the history of the United Stateshave been over who

freezethemselvescryogenically in hopes of being

theseenhancedcreatures

qualifies as fully human. Womenand blacksdid not

revivedina futureageseem only to confirmthe move-

claim, and what rightswill

makethecutin 1776 when Thomas Jeffersonpenned

ment'splaceon theintellectual fringe.

they possess when compared

thedeclarationS. lowlyand painfully, advanced soci-

Butis the fundamental

etieshaverealizedthatsim-

tenet of transhumanism-

to those left behind?"

ply beinghumanentitlesa

that we will someday use

person to political and

biotechnology to make

legal equality.In effect,we

ourselvesstronger,smarter,less prone to violence, have drawna red line aroundthe humanbeingand

and longer-lived-really so outlandish? Transhu- said that it is sacrosanct.

manismof a sort is implicitin much of the research Underlyingthisideaof theequalityof rightsis the

agendaof contemporarybiomedicine.The new pro- beliefthatwe allpossessa humanessencethatdwarfs

ceduresandtechnologiesemergingfromresearchlab- manifestdifferencesin skin color, beauty,and even

oratories and hospitals-whether mood-altering intelligence.This essence,and the view that individ-

drugs,substancesto boost musclemassor selectively uals thereforehave inherentvalue, is at the heartof

erase memory,prenatalgenetic screening,or gene politicalliberalism.Butmodifyingthatessenceis the

therapy-can as easily be used to "enhance"the core of the transhumanistproject.If we starttrans-

speciesas to ease or ameliorateillness.

formingourselvesintosomethingsuperiorw, hatrights

Although the rapid advances in biotechnology will theseenhancedcreaturesclaim,andwhat rights

oftenleaveus vaguelyuncomfortablet,he intellectual will theypossesswhencomparedto thoseleftbehind?

ormoralthreattheyrepresenitsnotalwayseasyto iden- If some move ahead, can anyone afford not to fol-

tify.The humanrace,afterall, is a prettysorrymess, low? These questions are troublingenough within

with our stubborndiseases,physicallimitations,and rich,developedsocieties.Add in the implicationsfor

FrancisFukuyamais professorof internationalpolitical economy at theJohns Hopkins School of AdvancedInternationalStudies and author of State-Building:Governance and World Order in the 21st Century (Ithaca: Cornell UniversityPress, 2004).

42 FOREIGN POLICY

citizens of the world's poorest countries-for whom biotechnology's marvels likely will be out of reachand the threat to the idea of equality becomes even more menacing.

Transhumanism'sadvocates think they understand what constitutes a good human being, and they are happy to leave behind the limited, mortal, natural beings they see around them in favor of something better. But do they really comprehend ultimate human goods? For all our obvious faults, we humans are miraculously complex products of a long evolutionary process-products whose whole is much more than the sum of our parts. Our good characteristics are intimately connected to our bad ones: If we weren't violent and aggressive,we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves; if we didn't have feelings of exclusivity, we wouldn't be loyal to those close to us; if we never felt jealousy,we would also never feel love. Even our mor-

tality plays a critical function in allowing our species as a whole to survive and adapt (and transhumanists are just about the last group I'd like to see live forever). Modifying any one of our key characteristics inevitably entails modifying a complex, interlinked package of traits, and we will never be able to anticipate the ultimate outcome.

Nobody knows what technological possibilities will emerge for human self-modification. But we can already see the stirringsof Promethean desires in how we prescribe drugs to alter the behavior and personalities of our children. The environmental movement

has taught us humility and respect for the integrity of nonhuman nature. We need a similar humility concerning our human nature. If we do not develop it soon, we may unwittingly invite the transhumaniststo deface humanity with their genetic bulldozers and

psychotropic shopping malls. [i

SEPTEMBER

I OCTOBER

2004 43

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