The Ethics of Life Extension

1. The Ethics of Life Extension Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-Angulo Bio-Ethics with Professor Solka 20 February 2007

2. Agenda • Topic introduction • Approaches to extending life • Advantages and disadvantages of methods • Ethics areas of consideration • Conclusions and quotes Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

3. The Life Extension Ethics Question: Should technologies that radically extend the human lifespan be allowed to be employed? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

4. Robert Freitas estimates that: • Eliminating a specific list comprising 50% of medically preventable conditions, would extend human life expectancy to over 150 years. • By preventing 90% of medical problems, life expectancy could extend to over 500 years. • At 99% solved, we’d be able to live for over 1,000 years. • Biotechnology and nanotechnology revolutions will enable us to eliminate virtually all medical causes of death. (Nanomedicine) Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

5. Biomedical Gerontologists: • Seek to understand the nature of aging and develop treatments to reverse aging processes, or to at least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage of life. • Believing tissue rejuvenation with stem cells, organs replacement, and molecular repair will eliminate all aging and disease allowing to complete rejuvenation to a youthful condition. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

6. Methods to Extending Life • Cure diseases and stop the aging process • Artificial organs with nanomaterials or superior materials • Significant body organ replacement • SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) is a program initiated by Aubrey de Grey, • Mind Uploading-- The concept is based on materialism, the philosophy of mind that argues that the human spirit is entirely composed of a very complex system of physical and chemical interactions. 1 Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

7. Anti-Life Extension Viewpoint • Leon Kass(chairman of the US President's Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005) exemplifies the anti-life extension view • "simply to covet a prolonged life span for ourselves is both a sign and a cause of our failure to open ourselves to procreation and to any higher purpose. … [The] desire to prolong youthfulness is not only a childish desire to eat one’s life and keep it; it is also an expression of a childish and narcissistic wish incompatible with devotion to posterity.“6 Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

8. Europe’s Enhance Initiative • The Centre for Ethics in Medicine was founded in 1998 • To document current and imminent scientific advances that may enhance human capacities in cognition, mood, physical performance (in sport) and ageing. • To evaluate these advances from a philosophical, ethical and social perspective. • To facilitate policy-making to the emerging dual-use technologies. • To promote public understanding of dual-use technologies and the ethical debate. • Duration: 24 month (started October 2005) • Coordinating institution: Centre for Ethics in medicine, University of Bristol Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

9. Discussion Topics • Nanotechnology • Cryogenics • Body part replacement • Mind Uploading • Cyborg citizens Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

10. The most promising is Nanomedicine • Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research. It covers areas such as nanoparticle drug delivery and possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and nanovaccinology. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

11. Advantages of Nanomedicine • Extremely bad conditions (as cancer) will be treated easily by modifying the body’s genetic material. • Disease elimination will become normal, so we no longer will need to be worry about living with heath conditions. • Diagnose diseases before there are any symptoms. • Administer drugs that are precisely targeted. • Use non-invasive imaging tools to demonstrate that the treatment was effective. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

12. Disadvantages for Nanomedicine • What if the modification has unintended consequences for the person or society? • What if we lose control of the nanoparticles? • What if society determines everyone needs a certain modification? • How do we deal with overpopulation? • How does society ensure the Government doesn’t use our money to research methods that are not in the best interests of the citizens? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

13. Cryonics At cryogenic temperatures there will be no alteration in biological tissue for thousands of years, which allows plenty of time for future life extension technologies to be available. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

14. Advantages of cryonics • A complete body or organ can be preserved for hundreds or thousands of years • There is a strong belief that in a no longer future technology and medicine will be available to restore damage and successfully revive cryopreserved patients Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

15. Disadvantages to Cryonics • It leaves the loves ones in limbo. • What will it be like to acclimate to a new society? • How does one just plug back in? • What about the massive knowledge disconnect? • What if your home was in Yugoslavia? • What if the firm goes belly-up – whom is responsible? • What if the procedure is only partly successful, and you do not come back as a “useful” member of society? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

16. Body parts replacement Biotechnology, particularly those of human cloning and stem cell research, are though to offer some possibility of replacing aging body parts with “new” parts grown artificially. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

17. Advantages of Body Part Replacement • Artificial organs will be implanted using nanotech devices that use the body’s own energy supply - - glucose and oxygen - - for power. • Individual’s brain will be transplanted from his or her aging body into a new, youthful body cloned from his or her own tissue. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

18. Disadvantages to Body Part Replacement • Has been evolving over many centuries. • Wood teeth, hook or stump, to artificial heart & limbs • Seems straight-forward when replacing a body-part with something lesser or equivalent to the original. • What about body-parts that are implanted just because the are superior? • On demand farming of organs or yours stockpiled is case of emergency – soldier • What do we do with the ones not used? • Where do we draw the line on something being a part verses a cloned body? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

19. Mind uploading Concept based on materialism, the philosophy of mind that argues that human spirit is entirely composed of a very complex system of physical and chemical interactions. Uploading a human brain means scanning all of its salient details and then reinstantiating them into a suitably powerful computational substrate. Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

20. Advantages of Mind uploading • This process would capture a person’s entire personality, memory, skills, and history • It is possible by first interfacing biological human brains with computer parts, and the gradual replacement of biological components with mechanical ones • Immortality will be possible Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

21. Disadvantages to Mind Uploads • When is this be allowed to occur - only at death? • How does one, and their family, prepare for the change that is going to occur? • What if you spend your last dime to perform this procedure and you were in retirement? • Will companies be willing or required to hire people that are not completely human? • Can you perform this procedure again, when a “better model” of cyborg comes along? • Trade-in like a car Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

22. Cyborg Citizens 1.0 – Silicon and Beyond • Honda’s Asimo robot • Neurons on a chip • Some estimate that by 2020 computers shall be able to perform Human thought.5 • Transfer knowledge, experience, and emotional state to a cyborg? • At what point is it that you are no longer a human? • Like cars with the foreign content exceeds x%? • Fido – transfer the pet’s emotional state to a robo-pet Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

23. Advantages of Cyborg Citizens • They will be the next step in human evolution • Super capacity of memory, thinking, intelligence, and forever young • They will open the door to the next step in universe evolution. Same process but applied to universe (cyber universe) Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

24. Disadvantages of Cyborg Citizens • They can continue to evolve like computers with no known upper-bound • Accelerated evolution forget 20 years/generation think 18 months/generation • When is automation deemed out-of-control? • When do we have to treat them a humans, because they are sentient beings? • They will be able to perform duties faster, better, and cheaper than people. What will people do to make money? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

25. Ethics Areas of Consideration Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

26. Personal • Quality of life vs. extending life • The number of years ones should have to work • Marriage(s) and the extended family • Kids, Grandkids, Grandkids cubed • Personal cost of procedures • Tweak “broken” psychological traits • Experiences, viewpoints, genetic tendencies • Moving into another body • Affect on you and your family Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

27. Legal • When is “you” no longer “you”? • If you perform a mind upload to more than one being. • When is death, e.g. if cryogenics can work? • What is Life in prison? • Do we just change their mind or body? • How does society price the loss of life in a negligence suit? • Laws with a blend of citizens being -- flesh and blood vs. humanoid vs. everything in between? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

28. Financial • Cost to society vs funding other ‘priorities’ • If more money can be made extending life vs finding cures for “diseases” • Rich versus Poor – societies and people • Forget the inheritance • How long is Society willing to cover people no longer able to cover their own expenses? • Will the great-great-great grandkids help out? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

29. Religion & Philosophy • If one can live 100s of years – when does one get to the after-life? • How much time will people spend worrying about the after-life? • How will people’s morals change if they know they are not dying for 100’s of years? • At what point are ‘we’ playing GOD? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

30. Societal • Issues of an “older” society • What will define old age? Will anyone be in an old body? • Jobs – work for 80% of your life? • Society is allowed to evolve when people die and the issues can be reshaped – e.g. racism • Redefine schooling – new slant on continuous education • What will we need to know in 100 years – can’t program the VCR • Knowledge pack downloads – to stay current Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

31. Political & Nationalism • What will be the political leaning of extremely older people? • What laws will they want passed? • How does this impact Nations with issues about prior wrongs e.g. slavery • The ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ societies • What if different countries allow different amounts of life extending capabilities to be used? Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

32. Environmental • Impact on natural resources • Impact on population growth rates • Can we start out by extending the life of pets? • Suggestion – allow people to only be 4 ft tall Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

33. The only things we can be sure of, so the saying goes, are death and taxes - but don’t be too sure about death. - Joseph Strout, Neuroscientist Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

34. Immortality first! Everything else can wait. - Corwyn Prater Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage

35. References [1] Kurzweil Ray. The Singularity is Near: when humans transcend biology. Viking Penguin 2005. New York, NY. [2] Aging Research Center (http://www.arclab.org) [3] Nanotechnology and Life Extension (http://www.xenophilia.org/nano_life_extension.html) [4] Silver M. Lee. Challenging Nature. HarperCollins Publishers. 2006. Ney York, NY. [5] Wikipedia.org [6] Kass, Leon (1988). Toward a More Natural Science. Free Press. [7] Enhance Bioethics Effort http://www.enhanceproject.org Bob Brown & Rafael Villa-AnguloPage