As a sociologist and
political scientist by training and a (techno)progressive-minded person
I hold
a
huge interest in finding ways to establish fruitful inter-/
transdisciplinary dialogues and cooperation to find ways and
solutions for applying technology in
the best and
safest way for humanity.
For
many
the current and anticipated pace of development seems by far too fast
and for others it's not going fast enough. There exist a whole array of
different opinions when it comes to the desirability of emerging
technologies, especially in the field of nano- / bio-/
informationtechnology and cognitive science (short: NBIC). For many
(even scientists) it is difficult to assess the possible chances and
risks that these technologies might hold.
__
In many
discourses
(public and even scientific) one can observe that the distinction
between fact and fiction is not always easy to distinguish,
something that makes serious discussions difficult. To discuss matters
one needs information: factual information and information about the
reason why people hold different points of views.
IDEAS,
ISSUES AND QUESTIONS
Vision Assessment
What
is meant by "Vision Assessment”?
There are many hopes, visions and doomsday scenarios associated with
emerging technologies. And it is not always easy to evaluate what might
be realistic and distinguish between sense and nonsense.
Therefore it is important to develop a non-nonsense assessment of chances,
problems, social-, political-,
economic-
and legal issues associated with emerging technologies (especially
genetic
engineering, nanotechnology, robotics / AI / biohybrid
technologies).
In order
to find out what may be regarded as “sense” and “nonsense”, one also
has to think
a little bit about “nonsense”, how “nonsense ideas” evolve and what is
so
nonsense about “nonsense”: is it a simple violation of known natural
laws,
simply infeasible, too costly or just currently out of reach, or may
people just confuse "nonsense" with not desirable?
Some "visions" might look more unrealistic than they actually are and
some ideas may look quite simple, but are difficult to implement.
So it would be good to take a look at the following:
- Futurology: History -
Futurology: What is sense and what is nonsense -
Sense and nonsense: How ideas are evaluated, supported or discarded -
Sense and nonsense: The reputation of ideas -
Science Fiction: The basis – where science meets fiction -
Science Fiction: The hopes and fears behind science fiction -
Science Fiction: Technology and society - Vision
Assessment (summary in German)
Societal Implications
of Emerging Technologies (some
examples of discussions I'm currently involved in):
Political
Issues:
-
Assess the changes in regard
to the political landscape when it comes
to questions about emerging technologies (e.g. new alliances between
"Greens" and Christian Conservatives when it comes to issues of genetic
engineering, a topic I have already started to deal with in my
"Magister"-thesis (German "Master Thesis"): http://www.uni-due.de/~hg0069/magisterarbeit.pdf
-
(In)equality and "X-Divide":
will
technological progress lead to an increase or a decrease in inequality?
(example: "Digital Divide" and maybe "genetic" and "nano" divide?)
-
New
dimensions in regard to
risk assessment / technology assessment: the new dangers are said to
reside
outside the calculation rationale of negative externalities, e.g.
negative
effects on the environment), but are said to threaten humans in regard
to their
“humanness” (arguments brought up especially in relation to genetic
engineering (a topic I have chosen for my oral doctoral
examination). Do different positions, i.e.
“Bio-conservatives” and “TechnoProgressives” (as the two poles on the
biopolitics
dimension) really present zero-sum situations?
-
Where does
liberty end? Who should
control science, technology and the distribution of technology?
-
What are
the challenges of
current (and future) politics in face of emerging technologies?
Social
Issues:
-
The status of non-humans (e.g. robots)
in social analysis? (aspects about human-machine interaction; the
impact of
robots and AI on society)
-
Have there appeared new social conflict
lines, and if, how to deal with the situation?- How did / do science
and
technology change the definition of “human”? (cf. Leis :
2006)
-
Biology vs. Sociology – Genes or Culture? Genes
against Culture?
Culture
against Genes? Genes and Culture? (why are especially people from the
huamnities / social sciences argumenting so "gene-centric" when it
comes to issues of genetic engineering and cloning???)
-
Personhood Theory
(roots, pros, cons and problems)
-
The
rights and
obligations, of humans, animals, (hypothetical) cyborgs and AIs
-
The
impact of science and technology on society, social norms,
religion, ethics
-
New
Lifestyles and philosophies, movement- and
counter-movement, “back to nature” vs. “posthuman dreams”
-
The
history, strands, dimensions and impact of “Transhumanism”
-
Social (in)equality and progress in medical technology -Who’s
gonna pay your pensions and medical bill?
-
The
dimensions and impact of (extreme) life extension
-
The evolution of the “Cyborg”: From
the Internet user to a walking dictionary – turning the disabled into
superman…
(although, unfortunately – and ironically - with Christopher Reeve it
has been
the other way around…)
-
Human Enhancement Technologies (HET): Where does
medical cure end and
human augmentation / enhancement begin? Aren't we already
enhanced? And why may HET lead to controversy?
-
Religion and Transhumanism: same
goals, different means? Don’t they all want the same:
Longer, healthier, safer and better lives? But it looks as if they
cannot
easily agree on how to achieve this…
-
What to do about the
blurring
orders between “nature” and “artifact”?(cf.:
Leis : 2006)
-
New
economic chances arising out of the anti-biotech
technology-critical-movements
Legal
/ Ethical Issues:
-
Legal contradictions (e.g. in
regard to abortion and human embryonic
stem cell research)
-
How to deal with situations
where the definition about the beginning
and the end of life is becoming increasingly ambiguous (just think
about brain dead humans, embryonic stem cell research, abortion,
euthanasia or patients in a coma). With technological progress, these
borders may again get redefined…
-
Legal lag: how the laws lag
behind technological progress
(issues: brain death, embryonic stem cell research, cryonivs)
Responsible
for content: Dr. Miriam Leis - contact - (c) 2005
- 2009 Miriam
Leis This
information is not intended to be used for commercial purposes.
Last update: January 2009 All
picture
material is either created by Miriam Leis or from public
domain sources.
