The age of enhancement

A cornucopia of drugs will soon be on sale to improve everything from our memories to our trust in others

by David Edmonds / September 3, 2009 / Leave a comment

Published in September 2009 issue of Prospect Magazine

On 6th December 2004 a baby girl named Yan was born. Her father, an internet entrepreneur, is called Shen Tong. Yan was Shen’s first child, and you might have expected him to have an excitable, sleepless night. But oddly the opposite occurred. He slept better than he had done for 15 years, six months and two days. It’s possible to be exact about the timing because 15 years, six months and two days earlier was 4th June 1989 and on that day Shen had been on a boulevard just off Tiananmen Square in Beijing. He was a 20-year-old student, and like thousands of others he was demonstrating in favour of political reform.

After martial law was declared, Shen watched as the army drove through the city. Between outbursts of shooting, students tried to reason with the military. Shen approached a truckload of soldiers; he wanted, he says, to calm the surrounding crowd. Suddenly an officer pulled out a pistol. Parts of the rest of the story are hazy. Shen was dragged back by others. A shot was fired, and a female student, roughly Shen’s age and standing just behind him, was hit in the face. She died. Shen remembers her covered in blood. He is convinced that the bullet was intended for him. Shen moved to the US, but violent images recurred in his dreams for many years—until, that is, the arrival of Yan. Not only did he sleep well that night, but the following night, and the night after that.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can occur after a distressing event. It involves a traumatic memory which comes back to mind repeatedly and involuntarily. It’s associated with chronic anxiety and hyper vigilance. The numbers affected are contentious. By one mid-range estimate tens of thousands of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from it. As do British veterans of the Falklands war—more of whom have committed suicide than died in active service. The Pentagon has sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into PTSD research. But of course, as Shen Tong knows, you don’t have to be a soldier to experience it.

Investigation of PTSD has been an important cause of new research into memory. And our understanding of memory is, in turn, propelling a debate about what is known as enhancement, or the boosting of human capacities beyond a normal level. The first issue to emerge was physical enhancement, such as doping in sports and mood enhancement with drugs like Prozac. Then came varieties of cognitive enhancement, as aids to concentration like Ritalin or newer “neuroenhancing” drugs like Adderall which are used by stressed students or harried office workers. Most contentiously, scientists now see possibilities to modify our moral character, using neurological techniques to make us ethically better—or perhaps worse (See box p44). And the latest research holds out the promise of drugs to help forget traumatic memories, or even to stay devoted to our sexual partners. Many people—notably some religious leaders, doctors, scientists, politicians and philosophers—have misgivings about much of this. But when they spell out their qualms, their reasoning is often shakier than it first appears. Nonetheless, this is not a debate we can ignore. What scientists are now discovering about memory presents us with an interesting set of dilemmas.

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Comments

The age of enhancement « Botox 4 The Brain
September 4, 2009 at 19:12
[...] age of enhancement Here is a great article I read this morning about “a cornucopia of drugs [that] will soon be on [...]
Reply
JF
September 4, 2009 at 23:26
Tank you David for your remarkable and up-to-date article. I've made a map of the logic structure of the article that you can find here. If you don’t agree with it, let me know.
Reply
Ramesh Raghuvanshi
September 5, 2009 at 16:53
I think childhood PTSD we must consider by different angle.It arise from guilt. There are lot of examples of guilt feeling children who suffer tremendously by this mental illness.Dostoevsky, Vain golf are some example.Nietzsche rightly described "Guilty simply meant that a debt was owed and punishment was simply a form of securing repayment.As a human one cannot claim our actions are determined by forces exterior to self.This inner anguish over moral uncertainty is a central under lying theme feeling guilty." On symptom of guilt.He said"significance of our ability to make promises.To hold a promise requires both a powerful memory the will that certain event should not be forgotten- and a confidence about the future and one's ability to hold the promise in the future. The confidence demands that some level we must make ourselves calculable or predictable and for a people to be predicable.
Reply
The Divine Conspiracy Blog » Blog Archive » Age of Enhancement
September 5, 2009 at 19:34
[...] coming age of enhancement. A cornucopia of drugs will soon be on sale to improve everything from our [...]
Reply
links for 2009-09-05 « Blarney Fellow
September 6, 2009 at 02:06
[...] The age of enhancement « Prospect Magazine (tags: brain drugs future health medicine neuroscience) [...]
Reply
Tess Tosterone
September 6, 2009 at 02:47
Americans stumble over Brit jargon.
Reply
Darwiniana » Age of enhancement: drugged
September 6, 2009 at 17:43
[...] The age of enhancement David Edmonds 3rd September 2009 — A cornucopia of drugs will soon be on sale to improve everything from our memories to our trust in others [...]
Reply
EJC (rimbaud) 's status on Sunday, 06-Sep-09 17:45:25 UTC - Identi.ca
September 6, 2009 at 18:45
[...] http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/09/the-age-of-enhancement/ a few seconds ago from web [...]
Reply
Topher
September 7, 2009 at 00:07
Like any aspect of science, there is always a possibility of danger lurking in the shadows of progress. We can only hope that, like DNA sequencing, nanotechnology, and other emerging fields with dazzling possibilities, scientists will carefully weigh the pros and cons of this science.
Reply
links for 2009-09-06 « The Adventures of Geekgirl
September 7, 2009 at 03:05
[...] The age of enhancement « Prospect Magazine (tags: no_tag) [...]
Reply
The age of enhancement at izbrano
September 7, 2009 at 12:37
[...] The age of enhancement [...]
Reply
rur42
September 7, 2009 at 16:30
Stanislaw Lem covered this topic thoroughly in 1971 (1975 trans.) "The Futurological Congress" "benignimizers" also Huxley's two Brave new Worlds & Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" & I'm on the internet and so are you
Reply
Darwiniana » Drugged for improvement
September 7, 2009 at 17:13
[...] http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/09/the-age-of-enhancement/ [...]
Reply
links for 2009-09-07 « Fantasising Zombies
September 8, 2009 at 02:05
[...] The age of enhancement « Prospect Magazine futuristics (tags: future) [...]
Reply
Ryan Sager - Neuroworld – Neuro News Nanos - True/Slant
September 8, 2009 at 13:02
[...] Another long discourse on “the age of enhancement” — drugs to change everything about us — humans and voles in love (not with each other, [...]
Reply
The age of enhancement
September 8, 2009 at 18:02
[...] Here is a great article I read this morning about “a cornucopia of drugs [that] will soon be on sale to improve everything from our memories to our trust in others.” [...]
Reply
David Scott Lewis
September 9, 2009 at 09:36
Sign me up!! Frankly, I'd be game to try just about any of the proposed "enhancement" drugs. My personal testimony: Provigil works, at least for me. I take it prior to giving an important presentation, or when I have to work all hours to get out a plan, report or article. Although I tend to drink a fair amount of coffee (about three cups each day), I find that Provigil works a lot better -- and without any noticeable side effects (even if it is a tad bit expensive, which is the only reason I don't take it more than once every few weeks). With something like NoDoz (which I also take because it's dirt cheap), I *might* get the jitters or a bit agitated, although NoDoz seems to have no side effects if I take one 200 mg pill after I've had a substantial meal. With Provigil, no side effects at all -- regardless when I take it. Is taking Provigil any different than taking a Resveratrol supplement as an anti-cancer drug? To me, not at all. (BTW, I take the Longevinex product.) It's all good to me. I've also taken the 23andMe genetic test; 23andMe probabilities for disease traits alone -- and 23andMe is much more than this -- are well worth $400. I consider cognitive enhancers important quality-of-life drugs. After all, does anyone want to spend any part of their life with dementia or Alzheimer's? I doubt it. When it comes to innate (mesencephalic) or acquired (telencephalic) drives, anything that can help either enhance a desired drive (be it cognitive, sexual or biological) or significantly slow the age-related decay of a desired performance (of any type) is definitely welcome. I also welcome related neuro- and psychopharmaceuticals, e.g., something like Atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering statin -- with also has the added benefit (at least experimentally) of also lowering Alzheimer's disease risk. Finally, insurance plans -- and a part of Obama's health care plan -- should fund the cost of enhancers/cholinesterase inhibitors/et al. Medical technology shouldn't focus on life extension; R&D should focus on quality of life issues. I have no desire to live a long life, but I do have a deep desire to live a fruitful, happy and productive life ... until the day I die.
Reply
Better living through chemistry: The age of enhancement - Politics & Current Affairs Forum
September 10, 2009 at 14:23
[...] [...]
Reply
More on enhancement « Okonomibloggy
September 11, 2009 at 02:47
[...] 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment This article in UK’s Prospect describes research likely to lead to drugs that will improve human performance and [...]
Reply
The age of enhancement « Prospect Magazine « Babyjurist’s Musings
September 11, 2009 at 11:12
[...] 11, 2009 in Uncategorized The age of enhancement « Prospect Magazine . [...]
Reply
The Age Of Enhancement « YuvaBlog.in
September 11, 2009 at 17:38
[...] Read more …. [...]
Reply
-= NONE SO BLIND =-
September 12, 2009 at 20:13
[...] The following passage are from “The Age of Enhancement” by David Edmonds in the British journal The Prospect. (The entire article can be found at www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/09/the-age-of-enhancement/ [...]
Reply
Josh W
September 13, 2009 at 19:29
As a rutheless question, are there chemicals that reduce the pain at being betrayed? This is a side that has not frequently been considered; if we can remove our feelings of pain at our mistreatment of each other, then the only crimes will be denying people capacities to do things. If we can make a different kind of human being, then all the classic concerns about human nature go out the window. Perhaps we can make a better society, perhaps a worse one. I wonder how much of our concern about these drugs, especially on the social side, relates to asymmetry; imagine partners who drugged each other up with trust. Would they reach some equilibrium where they no longer dose each other, because they trust each other to be trustworthy without it? Is there some unhealthy apex of trust and pleasure-identification where they just sit there and idolise each other, trusting them to know exactly what they want? Or would they just be a permanently love-sick couple, devoted to each other? Compare that to the abusive possibilities of the asymmetric alternative versions of this. Although perhaps the asymmetric one holds out more hope of stability; although one partner would be engineering the other, with all the anti-Kantian weirdness that entails, they may still by sympathy be able to find a stable improved relationship, because one of the partners standards are not being interfered with. Even if these kinds of things work as planned without side effects, then we have some very weird possibilities, not least the distortion of the legal principles of duress!
Reply
Omnivore 3 «
September 16, 2009 at 14:51
[...] The Age of Enhancement, David Edmonds, Prospect Magazine [...]
Reply
» The age of enhancement About Face International
September 18, 2009 at 06:03
[...] Investigation of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome has been an important cause of new research into memory. And our understanding of memory is, in turn, propelling a debate about what is known as enhancement, or the boosting of human capacities beyond a normal level. First there was mood enhancement with drugs like Prozac. Then came aids to concentration like Ritalin or newer “neuroenhancing” drugs like Adderall. Now we see possibilities to modify our moral character, using neurological techniques to make us ethically better. And the latest holds out the promise of drugs to help forget traumatic memories, or even to stay devoted to our sexual partners. <<<To read full article, click here.>>> [...]
Reply
Ink
October 10, 2009 at 07:41
Are these drugs going to be promoted so that employers will get better results from workers? So that drug manufacturers will make more money? So that big-picture pharmacologists can take control of societal evolution? The real question is what kind of self-regulating "morality" will emerge in this sort of pharma-arms-race. Will people who enthusiastically indulge in these medications still respect those who choose a different blend, or those who choose abstinence? Or will large numbers of people, perhaps even a majority, get swept up in a survival of the fittest where power and resources enough to make a paradise for all are, instead, turned into a might-makes-right hierarchy, with the drugs themselves arranging our society? On an optimistic note, there's a glimmer of evidence that a diversity of approaches to this issue might be a natural result, and it might bring benefits with the resulting complexity and lack of "standardization". The article mentions that researchers have, "...engineered ordinary mice to learn quicker and better, but these bionic creatures are less able to apply their knowledge flexibly," and that it won't really be possible to insure that every "enhancement" will be purely beneficial. I think it is this point that researchers, legislators, and those in the exciting (addictive, sometimes?) throes of these developments should keep in mind when considering the positions of others.
Reply
Discount
March 27, 2010 at 09:17
Like any aspect of science, there is always a possibility of danger lurking in the shadows of progress. We can only hope that, like DNA sequencing, nanotechnology, and other emerging fields with dazzling possibilities, scientists will carefully weigh the pros and cons of this science.
Reply
Tom Wilkinson
October 7, 2010 at 16:47
this website is really good
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