Healing The Healthy - A Very Ethical Problem

We are living in times in which many ailments which used to disable or even kill, have been brought under control with medical drugs and procedures. For instance in Victorian England, one of the most common killers came via infection caught from a rotten tooth.

That's right, before the dawn of antibiotics toothache, along with a whole host of other minor infections, was a major danger to your life.

Today we have a plethora of drugs that make things like tetanus, gangrene, and abscesses, minor inconveniences, rather than life threatening traumas.

However these benefits are not for all, for instance, if you are unfortunate enough to contract HIV, then your survival chances depend very much on your geographical location.

A Perfect Imbalance

If for instance you contract HIV in the UK, you are likely to live around 5-10 years less than you would have done had you not caught the disease.

So if your lifestyle choices and genetics meant that without accident, you would live to 80 years of age, then with proper treatment you can have HIV and live to about 70 or 75.

Of course you will have to take a cocktail of up to eighteen different pills everyday, and those pills will play havoc on your liver and bones. However you will be alive and have the chance to enjoy your life.

This is not the case if you live in say Nigeria, Nepal, or India. Unless you are wealthy enough to travel to a wealthier country, or import the drugs you need, you are looking at 1-5 years before you die.

This is the sad truth of the world we live in, miracle cures are often for sale at a price only some can afford.

A Cure For The Healthy

We are so lucky in the developed world, that now we are approaching a time whereby the healthy will be undergoing medical procedures. Not to cure them of any ailments, but rather to enhance an already privileged existence.

The dawn of transhumanism is upon us, the next two or so decades will see possibly millions of human beings augmenting their biology and possibly altering their DNA, all in the name of enhancement.

With the advent of quantum computing around the corner, it won't be long before we will be able to edit out risk of disease in our children's DNA, or enhance our ability to learn language, see in the dark, or even increase our general intelligence.

The possibilities for enhancements and augmentations will grow and grow. This growth will lead to a brand new ethical dilemma.

I'm Alright Jack

Of course it is easy for me to sit here and muse about a possible future whereby people I have never met are frozen out of a system that benefits me. However when it comes down to it, I, and nobody else who has the willing and the capital will turn down life-extending enhancements because of these ethical quagmires.

That doesn't mean that I embrace the inequality, or indeed am not sickened by it. It is just that human nature will mean that I want to protect the lives of me and my family, more than those of people I don't know.

So the ideal scenario is whereby I can enjoy the fruits of the medical profession's labour, guilt free; however I have to wonder if this will ever be possible.

Social Darwinism At Its Worst

Imagine a world whereby only the wealthy survive beyond a certain point, and their children are healthier than their poorer counterparts.

After a while, only they and their children would be left. Darwin showed us how in nature, only the fittest and most adaptable survive in a changing environment.

Perhaps now we are moving into the epoch of survival of the richest.

DO YOU SEE ANY ETHICAL DILEMMAS WHEN IT COMES TO BODY ENHANCEMENT AND AUGMENTATION? SHOULD THIS TECHNOLOGY BE FOR EVERYONE; OR SHOULD WE ACCEPT THAT IT MAY BE THE FEW WHO HAVE ACCESS? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Cryptogee