Skip to main content

Crossing the Posthuman Rubicon: When Do Enhancements Change Our Definition of Human?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Human Enhancements for Space Missions

Part of the book series: Space and Society ((SPSO))

  • 619 Accesses

Abstract

To understand what we might become in the age of enhancements and the implications of this transformation, we first must, as the Oracle at Delphi advised, know ourselves. This requires clarifying our understanding of how we define ourselves as Homo sapiens. Four conceptual frameworks are discussed: that of the reproductivists, and their traditional biological species concept model, as well as those of the compositionalists, functionalists, and fundamentalists. By clarifying our understanding of the ground we stand upon, we will be better able to decide how we will step into tomorrow.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abood, S. (2019). Martian environmental psychology: The choice architecture of a Mars mission and colony. In K. Szocik (Ed.), The human factor in a mission to Mars: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 11–14). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allday, J. (2019). Space-time: An introduction to Einstein’s theory of gravity. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle. (330 B.C.). Metaphysics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, P. (1988). Vampires, burial, and death. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, R., & Gilroy, S. (2017). Life in space isn’t easy, even if you are green. Biochemist, 39(6), 10–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boehm, A. M., Khalturin, K., Anton-Erxleben, F., Hemmrich, G., Klostermeier, U. C., Lopez-Quintero, J. A., et al. (2012). FoxO is a critical regulator of stem cell maintenance in immortal Hydra. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(48), 19697–19702.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Boethius. (524). The Consolation of Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bremermann, H. J. (1982). Reliability of proliferation controls. The Hayflick limit and its breakdown in cancer. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 97(4), 641–662.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohan, P. (2013, June 20). Google’s engineering director: 32 years to digital immortality. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/06/20/googles-engineering-director-32-years-to-digital-immortality/#55bc1a8721e5.

  • Costanzo, J. P., Reynolds, A. M., do Amaral, M. C., Rosendale, A. J., & Lee, R. E. (2015). Cryoprotectants and extreme freeze tolerance in a subarctic population of the wood frog. PLoS One, 10(2), e0117234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuthbertson, A. (2019a, September 10). People will communicate ‘not only without speaking but without words—Through access to each other’s thoughts at a conceptual level’. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-neuralink-elon-musk-telepathy-a9097821.html.

  • Cuthbertson, A. (2019b, September 10). Brain-computer interface will make people telepathic, scientists say. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-neuralink-elon-musk-telepathy-a9097821.html.

  • Damasio, H., Grabowski, T., Frank, R., Galaburda, A., & Damasio, A. (1994). The return of Phineas Gage: Clues about the brain from the skull of a famous patient. Science, 264(5162), 1102–1105.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Queiroz, K. (2005). Ernst Mayr and the modern concept of species. PNAS, 102(1), 6600–6607.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2016, January 9). Bridging the bio-electronic divide: New effort aims for fully implantable devices able to connect with up to one million neurons. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2015-01-19.

  • Descartes, R. (1637). Discourse on the method. Leiden, Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodd, D. M. B. (1989). Reproductive isolation as a consequence of adaptive divergence in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Evolution, 43(6), 1308–1311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, D. (2007, June 25). Middle Eastern women may have vitamin D deficiency. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSHAR56610220070625.

  • Drexler, E. (1987). Engines of creation: The coming era of nanotechnology. New York: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emspak, J. (2017, July 15). Chinese scientists just set the record for the farthest quantum teleportation. Space. https://www.space.com/37506-quantum-teleportation-record-shattered.html.

  • Estep, P. (2010). Declining asexual reproduction is suggestive of senescence in hydra: Comment on Martinez, D., “Mortality patterns suggest lack of senescence in hydra.” Exp Gerontol 33, 217–25. Experimental Gerontology, 45(9), 645–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fildes, J. (2009). Artificial brain ‘10 years away’. BBC News. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8164060.stm.

  • Freeman, D. (2017, February 28). Will Mars colonists evolve into this new kind of human? NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/the-big-questions/mars-colonists-might-evolve-entirely-new-type-human-n708636.

  • Freeman, P. (2009). Julius Caesar. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujisawa, T. (2003). Hydra regeneration and epitheliopeptides. Developmental Dynamics, 226(2), 182–189.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Futuyma, D. J. (1986). Evolutionary biology (p. 450). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gascoigne, B. (2003). A brief history of the dynasties of China. London: Robinson Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibran, K. (1923). The prophet. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn, A., Kurzban, R., & Raine, A. (2011). Evolutionary theory and psychopathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 371–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsworthy, A. (2006). Caesar: Life of a colossus. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grau, C., Ginhoux, R., Riera, A., Nguyen, T. L., Chauvat, H., Berg, M., et al. (2014). Conscious brain-to-brain communication in humans using non-invasive technologies. PLoS ONE, 9(8), e105225.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, E. (1942). Mythology: Timeless tales of gods and heroes. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, J. (1868). Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head. Publications of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 2, 327–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkey, A. (2005). Physiological and biomechanical considerations for a human Mars mission. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 58(3–4), 117–130.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hayflick, L. (2007). Biological aging is no longer an unsolved problem. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1100(1), 1–13.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hogenboom, M. (2015, July 6). The traits that make human beings unique. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150706-the-small-list-of-things-that-make-humans-unique.

  • Jerison, H. (1973). Evolution of the brain and intelligence. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keim, B. (2007). Could dressing conservatively make Muslim women sick? Wired. https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06could-burkas-ma/.

  • Ker, R., Bennett, M., Bibby, S., Kester, R., & Alexander, R. (1987). The spring in the arch of the human foot. Nature, 325(7000), 147–149.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkwood, T. B. L. (1977). Evolution of aging. Nature, 270, 301–304.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Klass, P. (1996, September 29). The artificial womb is born. The New York Times.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurzweil, R. (2005). The singularity is near: When humans transcend biology. New York: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuwabara, Y., Okai, T., Imanishi, Y., Muronosono, E., Kozuma, S., Takeda, S., et al. (1987). Development of extrauterine fetal incubation system using extracorporeal membrane oxygenator. Artificial Organs, 11(3), 224–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laertius, D. (circa 200–250 A.D.). Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latimer, B., & Lovejoy, C. (1989). The calcaneus of Australopithecus afarensis and its implications for the evolution of bipedality. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 78(3), 369–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D., Raichlen, D., Pontzer, H., Bramble, D., & Cutright-Smith, E. (2006). The human gluteus Maximus and its role in running. Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 2143–2155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, J. (1689). An essay concerning human understanding. London: The Baffett.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, G. M. (1971). Brief proposal on immortality: An interim solution. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 14(2), 339–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez, D. E. (1998). Mortality patterns suggest lack of senescence in hydra. Experimental Gerontology, 33(3), 217–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1942). Systematics and the origin of species from the viewpoint of a zoologist. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishal, A. (2001). Effects of different dress styles on vitamin d levels in healthy young Jordanian women. Osteoporosis International, 12(11).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitteroecker, P., Huttegger, S. M., Fischer, B., & Pavlicev, M. (2016). Cliff-edge model of obstetric selection in humans. PNAS, 113(51), 14680–14685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, J., Hedeholm, R. B., Heinemeier, J., Bushnell, P. G., Christiansen, J. S., Olsen, J., et al. (2016). Eye lens radiocarbon reveals centuries of longevity in the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus). Science, 353(6300), 702–704.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Pais-Vieira, M., Lebedev, M., Kunicki, C., Wang, J., & Nicholelis, M. A. L. (2013). A brain-to-brain interface for real-time sharing of sensorimotor information. Scientific Reports, 3(1319).

    Google Scholar 

  • Parnia, S. (2014). Erasing death: The science that is rewriting the boundaries between life and death. New York: HarperCollins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Partridge, E. A., Davey, M. G., Hornick, M. A., McGovern, P. E., Mejaddam, A. Y., Vrecenak, J. D., et al. (2017). An extra-uterine system to physiologically support the extreme premature lamb. Nature Communications, 8, 15112.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Plutarch. (1470). Parallel Lives.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pontzer, H. (2007). Predicting the energy cost of terrestrial locomotion: A test of the LiMb model in humans and quadrupeds. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210(3), 484–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prisco, G. (2012, December 12). Uploaded e-crews for interstellar missions. Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence. https://www.kurzweilai.net/uploaded-e-crews-for-interstellar-missions.

  • Rao, R. P. N., Stocco, A., Bryan, M., Sarma, D., Youngquist, T. M., Wu, J., & Prat, C. S. (2014). A direct brain-to-brain interface in humans. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e111332.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ratiu, P., & Talos, I. (2004). The tale of Phineas Gage, digitally remastered. New England Journal of Medicine, 351, e21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, F. H. T. (2016). Origins: The search for our prehistoric past. New York: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigo, E. (2011). The physics of stargates: Parallel universes, time travel, and the enigma of wormhole physics. New York: Eridanus Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royal Society. (2019, September) iHuman: Blurring lines between mind and machine issued. DES6094. https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/ihuman/report-neural-interfaces.pdf.

  • Ruff, C., McHenry, H., & Thackeray, J. (1999). Cross-sectional morphology of the SK 82 and 97 proximal femora. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 109(4), 509–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saadi, H. F., Dawodu, A., Afandi, B. O., Zayed, R., Benedict, S., & Nagelkerke, N. (2007). Efficacy of daily and monthly high-dose calciferol in vitamin D-deficient nulliparous and lactating women. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85(6), 1565–1571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrödinger, E. (1935). Discussion of probability relations between separated systems. Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 31(4), 555–563. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305004100013554.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Schrödinger, E. (1936). Probability relations between separated systems. Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 32(3), 446–452. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305004100019137.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Shay, J., & Wright, W. (2000). Hayflick, his limit, and cellular ageing. Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology, 1(1), 72–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J., Bronsan, S., Henrich, J., Lambeth, S., & Shapiro, S. (2013). Chimpanzees share food for many reasons: The role of kinship, reciprocity, social bonds and harassment on food transfers. Animal Behavior, 85(5), 941–947.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. L. (2012). Less than human (p. 96). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoor, F., Wood, B., & Zonneveld, F. (1994). Implications of early hominid labyrinthine Morphology for evolution of human bipedal locomotion. Nature, 369(6482), 645–648.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Steudel-Numbers, K. (2006). Energetics in Homo erectus and other early hominins: The consequences of increased lower-limb length. Journal of Human Evolution, 51(5), 445–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuijt, A. (2009, May 8). Women could endanger their health by wearing burqas. Digital Journal. https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/272307.

  • Suetonius. (121). The Twelve Caesars.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, I., Gacquer, D., Van Heurck, R., Kumar, D., Wojno, D., Wojno, M., et al. (2018). Human-specific NOTCH2NL genes expand cortical neurogenesis through delta/notch regulation. Cell, 173(6), 1370–1384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, K. S. (1994). Black holes and time warps (p. 499). London: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernot, B., Tucci, S., Kelso, J., Schraiber, J. G., Wolf, A. B., Gittelman, R. M., et al. (2016). Excavating Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from the genomes of Melanesian individuals. Science, 352(6282), 235–239.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wacker, M., & Holick, M. (2013). Sunlight and vitamin D: A global perspective for health. Dermatoendocrinology, 5(1), 51–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wai, L. K. (2004). Telomeres, telomerase, and tumorigenesis—A review. MedGenMed, 6(3), 19.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Warneken, F. (2015). Precocious prosociality: Why do young children help? Child Development Perspectives, 9(1), 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warwick, K., Gasson, M., Hutt, B., Goodhew, I., Kyberd, P., Andrews, B., et al. (2003). The application of implant technology for cybernetic systems. Archives of Neurology, 60(10), 1369–1373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warwick, K., Gasson, M., Hutt, B., Goodhew, I., Kyberd, P., Schulzrinne, H., & Wu, X. (2004). Thought communication and control: A first step using radiotelegraphy. IEE Proceedings on Communications, 151(3), 185–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisberger, M. (2018, July 27). Worms frozen for 42,000 years in Siberian permafrost wriggle to life. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/63187-siberian-permafrost-worms-revive.html.

  • White, T. D., Asfaw, B., Degusta, D., Gilbert, H., Richards, G. D., Suwa, G., & Howell, F. C. (2003). Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature, 423, 742–747.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilmer, H., Shermman, L., & Chein, J. (2017). Smartphones and cognition: A review of research exploring the links between mobile technology habits and cognitive functioning. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 605.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y., Raine, A., Narr, K. L., Colletti, P., & Toga, A. W. (2009). Localization of deformations within the amygdala in individuals with psychopathy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(9), 986–994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoo, S., Kim, H., Filandrianos, E., Taghados, S. J., & Park, S. (2013). Non-invasive brain-to-brain interface (BBI): Establishing functional links between two brains. PLoS ONE, 8(4), e60410.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven Abood .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Abood, S. (2020). Crossing the Posthuman Rubicon: When Do Enhancements Change Our Definition of Human?. In: Szocik, K. (eds) Human Enhancements for Space Missions. Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42036-9_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics