Many assume that enhancing human abilities is always a desirable goal. Transhumanists go further, claiming that the future will be won by those who upgrade themselves with technology, from memory-boosting neural implants to anti-ageing interventions. But critics argue that this is dangerously naïve, since the entire history of evolution is a story of increased abilities leading to species demise. Sabre-toothed tigers evolved massive teeth, making them apex predators. But this also made them hyper-specialized hunters, who couldn’t adapt when their prey became scarce, leading to their extinction. From mammoths to dinosaurs, what looked like “enhancements” made species less adaptable to changing ecosystems. Meanwhile, research suggests that enhanced memory has profound dangers, since forgetting the past and filtering out sensory input are just as essential to intelligence as remembering and seeing.
Are trade-offs essential to life, and does the attempt to transcend them inevitably backfire? Might attempts to enhance humanity even risk our extinction? Or must we transcend biology’s constraints and become “superhumans” to survive?
