Themes & Human Change

The big themes in Lifespinners – human longevity, enhancement and radical life extension – are part of a progression that can be described as Human Change. It is happening now, in parallel with the inescapable effects of climate change and the relentless advance of artificial intelligence, but it hasn’t yet attracted the same attention as a huge social, political and moral issue with seismic implications for the future of humanity. While certain of the risks associated with human change are well recognised and governed by strict regulations, general media reporting tends to focus on dramatic research breakthroughs offering preventive solutions, potential cures or new treatments for specific diseases or wider underlying health problems.

The concept of human change broadens the canvas to show that many exciting and effective health interventions are laying the groundwork for more radical modification and manipulation of the human body, brain and mind. This idea has been trailed in numerous science fiction stories and in non-fiction books bringing the latest science to general readers, but the overarching concept of human change may help to bring the diverse strands together and illuminate the bigger picture.

From genetic alteration and cell reprogramming to artificial wombs, smart implants, cyborgs, soft robots, courier nanobots, organoids, bionic body parts, mind reading and digital brain emulation, research programmes are opening up new possibilities in areas such as organ regeneration, age reversal, superior intellectual ability and techno-human fusion. Future options might include even more mind-boggling developments, such as a merger between human and artificial intelligence that blends the phenomenal speed and range of machine learning with the human capacity for social intelligence, emotional response, memory curation, reasoning and judgement.

The public interest in such advances will only grow, as more people catch on to the intriguing opportunities for improvement in natural abilities, changes in physical appearance, enhanced social or sexual desirability and a much longer life. Social pressure will also play a part, especially perhaps for parents who are presented with the chance to influence the future prospects for their new baby while it is still in the womb.

While there are great gains to be made, the obvious risk (as with AI) is that the scientific knowledge and technological innovation will run far ahead of our capacity to control and guide the transformational process. Viewed in this light, human change is an alluring and dangerous phenomenon. It will define the contours of our future as a self-preserving, self-regarding, curious and uniquely creative species, as well as our relations with other living creatures and our home planet.

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