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Basic InformationLatest NewsStaying Social Can Boost Healthy 'Gray Matter' in Aging BrainsDNA Analysis Might Reveal Melanoma RiskGenetics Might Explain Some Cases of Cerebral PalsyDiabetes Drug Metformin May Protect the Aging BrainNew Research Links Another Gene to Alzheimer's RiskYour Sex Affects Your Genes for Body Fat, Cancer, Birth WeightExperimental Drug Shows Promise Against ALSCould Gene Therapy Stem the Damage of Parkinson's?Genetic Research May Help Identify Causes of StillbirthBlood Test Heralds New Era in Alzheimer's DiagnosisMore Clues to the Genes Behind Hearing LossScientists Move Closer to Mapping Entire Human GenomeBlood Test May Reveal Concussion Severity With Accuracy of Spinal TapDeep Brain Stimulation May Slow Parkinson's, Study FindsStroke, Confusion: COVID-19 Often Impacts the Brain, Study ShowsYour Genes May Affect How You'll Heal If WoundedEven Without Concussion, Athletes' Brains Can Change After Head Jolts: StudyHealthDay In-Depth
The AI Revolution: For Patients, Promise and Challenges Ahead">HealthDay In-Depth
The AI Revolution: For Patients, Promise and Challenges AheadHealthDay In-Depth
The AI Revolution: Giving Docs a Diagnostic Assist">HealthDay In-Depth
The AI Revolution: Giving Docs a Diagnostic AssistBlood Test Might Predict Worsening MSKeto Diet Might Change Your Gut in More Ways Than OneParkinson's Patient Improving After First-Ever Stem Cell TherapyKey Areas of the Brain Triggered in Recent Heart Attack SurvivorsFirst Good Evidence That Brain Hits 'Replay' While You SleepSome NFL Players May Be Misdiagnosed With Brain Disease: StudyGreenhouse Gases Bad for Your BrainTransplanted Skin Stem Cells Help Blind Mice See LightBrain Plaques Signal Alzheimer's Even Before Other Symptoms Emerge: Study'It's Like You Have a Hand Again': New Prosthetic Gets Closer to the Real ThingLosing a Spouse Could Speed Brain's DeclinePaddles Against Parkinson's: Ping Pong Might Ease SymptomsIn a First, Doctors Use Robotics to Treat Brain AneurysmSkiers Study Suggests Fitness May Stave Off Parkinson'sCRISPR Gene Editing Creates 'Designer' Immune Cells That Fight CancerGene Variant Ups Dementia Risk in Parkinson's Patients: StudyGene Variation May Protect Against Alzheimer's: StudyYoung-Onset Parkinson's May Start in the Womb, New Research SuggestsNew Gene Study Unravels Cancer's SecretsDoes Size Matter? Volume of Brain Area Not Always Tied to Memory, ThinkingGene Test Might Spot Soccer Players at High Risk for Brain TroubleSevere Deprivation in Childhood Has Lasting Impact on Brain SizeIn the Future, Could Exercise's Benefits Come in a Pill?Could Brain Scans Spot Children's Mood, Attention Problems Early?Brain Damage Changes Over Time in Boxers, MMA FightersSpecial 'Invisible' Dye Could Serve as Skin's Vaccination RecordCancer Drug Shows Promise for Parkinson's Patients'Smart' Contact Lenses Might Also Monitor Eye HealthCould Obesity Alter a Child's Brain Structure?Playing Sports Might Sharpen Your HearingAntarctic Study Shows Isolation, Monotony May Change the Human Brain Questions and AnswersLinksBook Reviews |
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by Pierre Baldi MIT Press, 2001 Review by John Caulfield, Ph.D. on Oct 16th 2001  Some 31 years ago, Alvin Toffler published a very influential
nook entitled Future Shock.
Its warning was that the world was changing so fast that humans,
who evolved for a much less rapid adaptation, would begin to have
trouble adapting, Today, Ludism and fundamentalism thrive in advanced
countries. His prophecy has been fulfilled.
In almost the same spirit, Pierre Baldi has written this book
to prepare readers for what is about to happen in the 21st
Century - especially as it impacts our concepts of what we humans
are. The day I wrote this, I heard a radio commentator noting
that the artificial heart success just being celebrated gave him
"the creeps." The heart is so central to a human that
it should not be made of plastic. Phone-in listeners agreed enthusiastically
that such things need to be stopped. If only they had read Baldi's
book!
Providing the necessary background at a high school level, Baldi
deals briefly with the history of what he calls "decentering"
wherein first the sun, then human bodies, and finally conscious
thought have been transformed from central to peripheral positions
in the universe.
Molecular biology is his entry point into the 21st
century. Most of the material will be familiar to everyone reading
this review. But, his note on the relationship between the growth
of tomatoes and the growth of cancers was new and quite stimulating
to me.
Issues affecting human reproduction come next - Viagra, "test
tube babies," sexless reproduction, reproductionless sex,
sex selection, Siamese twins, cloning, life extension, DNA manipulation,
children rearing clones of their parents are among topics discussed.
Although it is barely related to his theme, Baldi includes a brief
discussion of the Internet. Moore's law, and so forth. Even here,
developments are explosive and (to some) threatening.
He then turns to "The Last Frontier: the Brain." Here,
Baldi seems to me uncharacteristically conservative. Many researchers
(myself included) think that they already understand the broad
outline of human perception, consciousness, self consciousness,
emotions, and mystic experiences. If we are right, our view of
what a human is changes drastically. I argue that humanity does
not lose its grandeur in the process, but I avoid discussing such
things outside the company of scholars.
All of this challenges ethics in two ways. First, it challenges
the external basis for ethics - an external and eternal ruler
and lawmaker. Second, it challenges us to deal with totally new
situations for which there are no accepted ethical standards.
Baldi then speculates on what he calls "the end of natural
evolution." We can now interfere with natural evolution in
ways our grandparents could never have dreamed. The great outcry
against genetically modified plants is certainly politically motivated,
but it works so well because we fear the end of natural evolution.
Nameless scientists take on the role of God himself in directing
evolution (provided God indulges in evolution at all according
to the user's beliefs).
Like it or not, this Brave New World is no longer the stuff
of fiction. Baldi hopes to prepare readers for it.
© 2001 John Caulfield
H. John Caulfield,
Distinguished Research Professor, Fisk University, Nashville,
TN.
This review first appeared online Sept 1, 2001 |
