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While I'm somewhat skeptical of the architectural merit of the Royal Ontario Museum's new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, it's certainly photogenic.
Apr. 18th, 2009
On previous Forum Saturdays here on this blog, we seem to have come to consensuses that Neanderthals will probably be cloned from the dead and given human rights, and on a related note, that as soon as the technology becomes available we'll happily engineer ourselves and our offspring. Over at his blog, Andrew Barton examines a related question, engages in his own speculations on the subject and also comes out in favour.
Andrew's point, it should be noted, is relevant not only to the project of bringing Neanderthals back from the dead, but is relevant to the entire spectrum of high-technology projects currently on the drawing boards of the world, especially the world's most advanced and/or significant economies. We do live, as Paul Simon sang, in an age of "miracles and wonders," with lasers in the jungle and many other things besides. How ethical is it to exploit these technological opportunities, however, when there is such misery around the world. Is (say) bringing the Neanderthals back from the dead a worthwhile project when there are so many wanting for the basic necessities of life?
I'm inclined to say that it is, that there is no neessary connection between technological achievements and human suffering, especially since the latter is very frequently a product of political issues and it's possible that even the most obscure reserarch will have unexpected beneficial spinoff effects. Space travel produced the observation satellites that gave us information about the climate, for instance, and the necessary base for the wireless telephony that has transformed much of the underdeveloped world.
And you?
How can we justify resurrecting a species that had its shot and didn't make it, they'll say, when there are so many humans suffering right now? Shouldn't we think about them instead?
"Won't someone think of all those suffering people" is always problematic, in my experience. If you disagree, you're some kind of a monster, but I've always thought of the situation as a particularly unfortunate Red Queen's race. No matter what we do, no matter how stressed the environment and our support infrastructure already is, more and more children are being born every day. Not only that, no matter what progress we make, that progress will never be enough. There will always be suffering people; the only way they'll ever differ is in degree. It's like Zeno's paradox - no matter how close we come to "eradicating suffering," the definition of "suffering" will inevitably change. Putting things like space development or neanderthal resurrection on hold because of "problems on Earth" will only ever prevent those things from being done.
Andrew's point, it should be noted, is relevant not only to the project of bringing Neanderthals back from the dead, but is relevant to the entire spectrum of high-technology projects currently on the drawing boards of the world, especially the world's most advanced and/or significant economies. We do live, as Paul Simon sang, in an age of "miracles and wonders," with lasers in the jungle and many other things besides. How ethical is it to exploit these technological opportunities, however, when there is such misery around the world. Is (say) bringing the Neanderthals back from the dead a worthwhile project when there are so many wanting for the basic necessities of life?
I'm inclined to say that it is, that there is no neessary connection between technological achievements and human suffering, especially since the latter is very frequently a product of political issues and it's possible that even the most obscure reserarch will have unexpected beneficial spinoff effects. Space travel produced the observation satellites that gave us information about the climate, for instance, and the necessary base for the wireless telephony that has transformed much of the underdeveloped world.
And you?