Nanobuzz write up about my Nanoregulation talk

By george elvin on August 11, 2006

Yesterday concluded the Nano & Bio in Society 2006 conference in Chicago. This two-day conference brought together a diverse group of scholars, businesspeople government officials and NGO representatives to contemplate the potential social, ethical, health and environmental impacts of nanotechnology.

In addition to many excellent presentations and a panel discussion I had the honor of taking part in, the conference provided the opportunity for informal discussions among the participants. One that I especially enjoyed was with Professor Gregor Wolbring of Calgary University, who sees "social safety" as a greater concern than any medical safety concerns nanotech may raise.

By social safety, Wolbring means the right of every individual in society to fair and equal treatment and a sense of self-worth. As technologies enabling greater human enhancement become available through nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology, he fears a widening gap between enhanced and unenhanced people.

Superior vision, brain function and strength are just few of the enhancements proposed and eagerly awaited by transhumanists who believe that bodies need constant improvement made possible by new technologies.

But Wolbring sees the spread of enhancement technologies as rife with potential problems. When the majority chooses enhancement, for instance, the minority who reject it will be seen as inferior or disabled. And it may not be a matter of choice, he observes. If you look at healthcare today, opportunities for enhancement and even healing are often denied to society's disenfranchised.

And as more and more people choose enhancement, the very definition of what it means to healthy, normal or able-bodied may shift as well. He suggests that in the future so many of us will choose to be enhanced that the unenhanced may become a rare breed. Conference chair Edgar Voelkl added that enhancement is already taking place at a large scale through cosmetic surgery.

Conferences like this one provide a valuable opportunity to look ahead at the many social, ethical, health and environmental issues latent in nanotechnology. Thanks to Center on Nanotechnology and Society Director Nigel Cameron and Associate Director Michele Mekel for inviting me.

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