PHI 2394 Lecture : Summary for Silver (2) and Cummings.doc
9 May 2014
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Human genome project: video 1, video 2. A glimpse of things to come, lee silver. 2350: transhumanism, gattaca argument, speciation based on social stratification, genrich vs. naturals. Wikipedia: brave new world, written in 1932, was first intended as a dystopian novel by aldous. Set in london in the 26th century, the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, eugenics and hypnop dia that combine to change society. The world it describes could in fact also be a utopia, albeit an ironic one: Warfare and poverty have been eliminated, and everyone is permanently happy. The irony is, however, that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things family, cultural diversity, art, literature, science, religion, and philosophy. It is also a hedonistic society, focused on deriving pleasure from promiscuous sex and drugs. Silver"s critique: huxley"s world is coming, but reproductive control will not be in the hands of government or corporations, but rather of individuals.
