Best of WT -- Reworking the Human Architecture

[Originally broadcast July 2009]

 

Human evolution is well on its way to becoming a do-it-yourself project. Our panel of futurists discuss how and why people are going to be making major enhancements to themselves, and soon.

 

We're all familiar with enhancements intended to make us stronger or to look younger or more beautiful, but those hardly scratch the surface. Are you ready for technologies that can make us truly younger, stronger, smarter?

 

How about rebuilding the human machinery from the ground-up? Need longer legs? An extra hand? Eyes literally in the back of your head?

 

Who wants feathers? Wings? Gills?

 

Or maybe you're tired of having your computer do all the thinking for you. Are you ready to become the computer yourself? 

 

From the highly desirable to the downright disturbing, we explore arguments for and against, benefits and risks, and the inevitability of re-working the human architecture.

 

About Our Guests

 

RU Sirius is the man who shows us where cyberculture and counterculture meet. He is a writer, talk show host, musician, and the editor of H+ magazine.

 

PJ Manney is a writer and futurist and a leading voice in the H+ movement. She has written extensively on H+ topics, having previously been involved in motion picture development and writing for television.

 

Brian Wang is a futurist who blogs about all things future-related at NextBigFuture. He is the Director of Research for the Lifeboat Foundation and a member of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology Task Force.