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chemistreader's review against another edition
He whole heartedly embraces a materialistic, pragmatic view of human nature that is very disturbing. His arguments are completely amoral--they contain no consideration of morality at all. The science, however, is very fascinating. His typos are frustrating!
rotorguy64's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun read. Like a down-to-earth version of [b:The Singularity is Near|83518|The Singularity is Near When Humans Transcend Biology|Ray Kurzweil|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348757857s/83518.jpg|1080], with less speculation and a greater focus on contemporary research, mostly in genetics, pharmaceutics and neurology. Naam substantiated all of his claims, made extensive and transparent use of sources, and like I said, he didn't go overboard with his predictions. No cool graphs to prove that we'll be intelligent swarms of nanomachines thirty years into the future. It's all hard science.
The book gets bonus points for addressing the topic of economics and regulations. Naam claims that liberalizing some markets, like for genetic modification, would give a huge boost to the development and spread Of course we need some regulations, he says, but that's a flaw on his part that I can look over. That he didn't present scientific progress as existing in a vacuum outside of economics and took a stand for more freedom is already respectable. [b:Science, Technology, and Government|25953909|Science, Technology, and Government|Murray N. Rothbard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437518563s/25953909.jpg|45856532] is a great book for further study on this topic.
So, all in all, this book is solid, it's realistic, and it's fun. Naam did a very good job on this.
The book gets bonus points for addressing the topic of economics and regulations. Naam claims that liberalizing some markets, like for genetic modification, would give a huge boost to the development and spread Of course we need some regulations, he says, but that's a flaw on his part that I can look over. That he didn't present scientific progress as existing in a vacuum outside of economics and took a stand for more freedom is already respectable. [b:Science, Technology, and Government|25953909|Science, Technology, and Government|Murray N. Rothbard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437518563s/25953909.jpg|45856532] is a great book for further study on this topic.
So, all in all, this book is solid, it's realistic, and it's fun. Naam did a very good job on this.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting and optimistic book, but it kind of petered out at the end. It was cool to see some of the non-fiction thinking behind an author who writes near-future sf. And definitely this made books like [b:Lock In|21418013|Lock In|John Scalzi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399037491s/21418013.jpg|26115712] make even more sense. It could have been a bit more in depth but the level was generally pretty good - not too hard or too easy.
innae's review against another edition
3.0
This book is fascinating. I know I don't agree with everything Naam has to say, as he is PRO everything. and I am not so sure on some of it. But, he does make valid arguments at every step.
I did have a few thoughts as I was reading -
- What about the children and children's children of gene therapy folks? -- he does address this later in the book, if they are given therapy after already a person (ie. born) then the gene therapy does not integrate into every cell, so it would not be passed on -- but the ones who are given therapy in the womb, or the test tube, prior to many of the cells dividing -- then the therapy would be in EVERY cell and would be passed on to future generations -- weird.
- He talks about gene therapy to be able to suppress guilt or empathy -- meaning truly bad guys would be able to take away the "badness" they feel -- however, this could work to give empathy and guilt to the sociopaths out there, and perhaps "cure" them?? an intriguing thought.
- He discusses Calorie Restriction (CR) to live longer. Apparently it works in monkeys -- however, would you really want to live to be 120 if you couldn't eat an eclair? or a piece of chocolate? ever?
-There is a possibility in the future to give an unborn child a gene that would make them immune to most strains of HIV (or any other disease) -- now would this really be an enhancement? or just a step up from vaccination? -- imagine no more vaccination shots, just genes to protect you from polio and chicken pox and HIV and cancer put directly into your body?? and if it were done when you were still in "cells" stage, it could be something you would pass on, effectively breading out disease? hmmmm.
This was a book to make me think. Many of the thoughts that were brought up by this book are interesting, and very scary. Is it because it is "new technology" or is it because it is Wrong? Hmmm, perhaps we need to discuss this with Ian Malcolm (from Jurassic Park -- "Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do something)
I did have a few thoughts as I was reading -
- What about the children and children's children of gene therapy folks? -- he does address this later in the book, if they are given therapy after already a person (ie. born) then the gene therapy does not integrate into every cell, so it would not be passed on -- but the ones who are given therapy in the womb, or the test tube, prior to many of the cells dividing -- then the therapy would be in EVERY cell and would be passed on to future generations -- weird.
- He talks about gene therapy to be able to suppress guilt or empathy -- meaning truly bad guys would be able to take away the "badness" they feel -- however, this could work to give empathy and guilt to the sociopaths out there, and perhaps "cure" them?? an intriguing thought.
- He discusses Calorie Restriction (CR) to live longer. Apparently it works in monkeys -- however, would you really want to live to be 120 if you couldn't eat an eclair? or a piece of chocolate? ever?
-There is a possibility in the future to give an unborn child a gene that would make them immune to most strains of HIV (or any other disease) -- now would this really be an enhancement? or just a step up from vaccination? -- imagine no more vaccination shots, just genes to protect you from polio and chicken pox and HIV and cancer put directly into your body?? and if it were done when you were still in "cells" stage, it could be something you would pass on, effectively breading out disease? hmmmm.
This was a book to make me think. Many of the thoughts that were brought up by this book are interesting, and very scary. Is it because it is "new technology" or is it because it is Wrong? Hmmm, perhaps we need to discuss this with Ian Malcolm (from Jurassic Park -- "Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do something)
pistachios42's review
2.0
A very comprehensive look at human enhancement, although I think it suffers in quite a few places. This was published 15 years ago so I understand that most of the ideas are not up-to-date considering the fast-moving areas of research the book examines. I learnt a lot from this but wasn't always impressed by Naam's stance on these issues. Throughout the book he returns to the idea that technology isn't the issue but how available it is, and often risks aren't taken into account because Naam trusts that most consumers will use them responsibly.
Another thing that crops up a lot is this idea of profit justifying a technology's development, and the improvements that technology will have on productivity and money-making is venerated while improvements to quality of life are a second thought. I often agree with Naam but I think that his priorities are very different to mine in what potential technologies offer for the future.
Another thing that crops up a lot is this idea of profit justifying a technology's development, and the improvements that technology will have on productivity and money-making is venerated while improvements to quality of life are a second thought. I often agree with Naam but I think that his priorities are very different to mine in what potential technologies offer for the future.
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