快猫短视频

WE ARE on the brink of technological breakthroughs that could augment our mental powers beyond recognition. It will soon be possible to boost human brainpower with electronic 鈥減lug-ins鈥� or even by genetic enhancement. What will this mean for the future of humanity?

This was the theme of in Berlin, Germany, where anthropologists, technologists, neurologists, archaeologists and philosophers met to consider the implications of this next stage of human brain development. Would it widen the gulf between the world鈥檚 haves and have-nots 鈥� and perhaps even lead to a distinct and dominant species with unmatchable powers of intellect?

One view is that this is merely the next phase in a process that has been taking place throughout human history. Humans have always played an active role in improving their own brainpower, says of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge, UK, who was one of the organisers of the Berlin meeting. It began with inherited gene mutations that gave us uniquely 鈥減lastic鈥� brains, capable of changing physically to meet hitherto unassailable intellectual and practical challenges.

More recent changes have been moulded through our interactions with the physical environment, and by the socially created 鈥渕emes鈥� passed down through culture. Milestones in human brain improvements over the past 2 million years have included the invention of gestures and language to describe our thoughts to others, as well as the written word and our ability to commit everything to permanent records.

These all act as extensions of our own brains, forming what Malafouris describes as a 鈥渕etaplastic鈥� system 鈥� a feedback loop between our brain鈥檚 own neurology and the cultural and material demands on it. 鈥淧art of the reason Homo became sapiens lies in its unique ability to alter, modify and change what for other species remained fixed and stable,鈥� he says.

The evidence for this plasticity continues to grow. of Aarhus University in Denmark presented brain scans at the Berlin meeting showing that in people who meditate, the areas of the brain that control breathing are larger than the corresponding areas in people who do not (NeuroReport, ).

Today, our minds are even more fluid and open to enhancement due to what of Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, calls 鈥渟uperplasticity鈥�, the ability of each mind to plug into the minds and experiences of countless others through culture or technology. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying it鈥檚 a 鈥榞roup mind鈥�, as each mind is sealed,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut cognition can be distributed, embedded in a huge cultural system, and technology has produced a huge multiplier effect.鈥� In other words, humans already have minds evolving beyond anything seen before in history.

鈥淗umans already have minds evolving beyond anything seen before in history鈥�

The next stage of brainpower enhancement could be technological 鈥� through genetic engineering or brain prostheses. Because the gene variants pivotal to intellectual brilliance have yet to be discovered, boosting brainpower by altering genes may still be some way off, or even impossible. Prostheses are much closer, especially as the technology for wiring brains into computers is already being tested (see 鈥淒awn of the cyborgs鈥�). Indeed, futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil believes the time when humans merge with machines will arrive as early as 2045 (快猫短视频, 9 May, p 26).

It won鈥檛 be long before 鈥渃lip-on鈥� computer aids become available for everybody, says , a pro-enhancement philosopher at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. These could be anything from memory aids to the ability to 鈥渟earch鈥� for information stored in your brain. 鈥淲e鈥檒l get a flowering of brain augmentations, some seeping through from the disabled community,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 see them becoming fashion items, a bit like choosing clothing.鈥� Clark says that even today, devices such as head-up displays on spectacles or simply being adept at using computer programs like Photoshop come close to being physical extensions of people鈥檚 minds.

Malafouris also believes such augmentation is the next logical stage in human development. 鈥淚f we accept that tool use was part of the reason we came to develop language, then why should we perceive neuro-engineering as a threat rather than as the new stone industry of the 21st century?鈥�

Not everyone thinks this is a good idea, however. , a philosopher at the University of D眉sseldorf in Germany, says there are risks in technological self-improvement that could jeopardise human dignity. One potential problem arises from altering what we consider to be 鈥渘ormal鈥�: the dangers are similar to the social pressure to conform to idealised forms of beauty, physique or sporting ability that we see today.

People without enhancement could come to see themselves as failures, have lower self-esteem or even be discriminated against by those whose brains have been enhanced, Birnbacher says. He stops short of saying that enhancement could 鈥渟plit鈥� the human race, pointing out that society already tolerates huge inequity in access to existing enhancement tools such as books and education.

The perception that some people are giving themselves an unfair advantage over everyone else by 鈥渆nhancing鈥� their brains would be socially divisive, says at the University of Exeter, UK. 鈥淎nyone can read to their kids or play them music, but put a piece of software in their heads, and that鈥檚 seen as unfair,鈥� he says. As Dupr茅 sees it, the possibility of two completely different human species eventually developing is 鈥渁 legitimate worry鈥�.

Can these potential pitfalls be avoided? The guiding principle, perhaps, could be to make sure the technology is cheap enough to be open to all, much as books, computers and cellphones are today, at least in richer countries. 鈥淚f this stuff can be produced cheaply and resonates with what people want to do anyway, it could take off,鈥� says , an archaeologist at the University of Oxford.

There are, however, simple alternatives to technological enhancement that would achieve many of the same goals, says Dupr茅: education and child-rearing. Moreover, he thinks such changes can be heritable via epigenetics 鈥� the reprogramming of gene expression in offspring by exposure to cultural, maternal and environmental influences. Dupr茅 points to a study in rats showing that good maternal care was passed on largely because it permanently altered gene activity in the brains of the pups.

The upshot is that drastic changes are not the only way for our brain to evolve. 鈥淭here will be a lot of evolution, but it won鈥檛 be classic neo-Darwinist changes in the genome,鈥� says Dupr茅. 鈥淚t will be changes in the environment, in technology and in the availability of good education.鈥� We should not tweak our genes, he adds. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think souping up people鈥檚 genomes is the way to go.鈥�

Whether we choose implants or not, our minds are destined to carry on evolving. 鈥淕iven the right environment, most humans have an amazing potential to develop exciting mental capabilities,鈥� says Dupr茅.

鈥淲hether we choose implants or not, our minds are destined to carry on evolving鈥�

Gosden agrees. 鈥淲e鈥檙e part of one long experiment and have no idea of the outcome, and being a Luddite is as much a leap into the unknown as adopting new technology,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 such a huge input from the material world that we鈥檙e only partly in control of what happens.鈥�