Superdrugs For Superhumans

What are the so-called “Super drugs”?

We drink coffee to boost up our mornings, take drugs to perk up our mental abilities, undergo surgical treatment to revitalize our physical appearance; all of these intercessions aspire for enhancement, a mission which man have always hunted. Without a doubt, man has always searched for innovative ways to be tougher, more physically pleasant or smarter.

Research and more recently daring surgeries are other than some instances of this search. With the discovery of new tools and fast progress of medicine, recently, the leeway for human enhancement have been increased and not a mental picture anymore. As a community, should we be anxious or celebrate about these new breaks?

 

Human Enhancement

Human enhancement may be defined as any alteration which seek improvement individual human feat and caused by science or technology-based interferences in the human body. Enhancement and therapy can be two distinct words, since the latter intends to fis something caused by illness or injury; while enhancement seeks to improve human state beyond its normal being.

Plastic surgery, assistive devices for handicapped people, and others can be considered as ways of human enhancement, however lifespan, prenatal interventions (selection of embryos), mental ability, mood swings, physical abilities are some of the questions raised by most of the researchers.

“Doping” is an eminent example of human enhancement which provides athletes an increase in their physical capabilities by the intake of different types of drugs. It can also be used to advance the mental ability of human. Some drugs, such as Ritalin® - used by people suffering from ADHD- are sometimes taken by healthy people and they noted positive effect on their concentration.

What’s the norm?

“What is normal?” this is the inquiry revolving around the concept of human enhancement. The idea of “norm” is pretty “subjective” and may vary from one individual to the other and from one civilization to another. Say, in mental enhancement, having coffee to stay alert is normally allowed. However, taking up drugs to enhance a person’s academic performance is no yet considered as normal.

Are human enhancers harmful?- to answer this query, a few moralists recommend observing the end result a certain enhancement would have on the general public as a whole. It is unreasonable to deny ourselves from its advantages, if developing human performance would mean an advance in the level of learning of the whole human race. However if such advancement can be attained by the simple small pill, what will be the concept of “exertion of effort”? Furthermore, we must be certain that these pills, taken by healthy men, won’t have negative adverse result in the long run.

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