Cyborg engineering changes human identity by expanding human capabilities and creating collective memory banks through brain-computer connections. It changes the nature of human existence, eventually evolving us into new beings and leading to our own demise. In Yuval Harari’s “Sapiens,” there’s a line that reads. “Attempts to improve us will inevitably fail, because even if the...
Richard Dawkins’ “selfish gene” theory argues that all human behavior is determined by the survival strategies of our genes. However, there are counterexamples that cannot be explained by genetic theory alone, such as transgenderism, homosexuality, and altruistic behavior toward others not related to us by blood, showing that human free will and a variety of social and cultural factors work...
This article addresses the debate over whether rape is an evolutionarily adaptive behavior or simply a byproduct of violent learning, exploring the adaptability of rape from an evolutionary perspective and concluding that it cannot be ethically justified. The book Darwin’s Table, written by South Korean professor Daeik Jang, brings together prominent scholars to debate whether male...
Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins explore the nature of genes and the possibilities of epigenetics. While Dawkins argues that genes use humans as survival machines, epigenetics shows that gene expression can be suppressed by environmental factors. The possibility that environmental factors can alter genetic traits and modify survival strategies, as in the...
Advances in genetic engineering technology have made “personalized babies” a reality, but this raises important questions about human moral values and ethics. While some people are concerned about excessive parental agency and undermining social values, others believe that legal regulation can help establish bioethics, prevent diseases, and reduce social costs. A “designer baby” is a baby...
As we remake ourselves with advanced biotechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence, we are in danger of losing our identity as Homo sapiens. This book is a warning about whether the technologies we create will propel us forward or redefine our existence and lead to our demise. How long can we, humans, live? Death is always around the corner in our lives. We can die for a variety of...
Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, by Donald E. Stokes, explores the need for application-oriented basic science and the roles of scientists, research evaluation systems, and the state in establishing it, and criticizes the side effects and ambiguity of the criteria. The Pasteur Quadrant, or Pasteur Quadrant, refers to “use-inspired basic science” that is...
This article draws on Dawkins’ theory of selfish genes and evolutionary stabilization strategies (ESS) to explain why some birds reproduce by laying eggs, and why birds that have been laid care for them as if they were their own. He explores the possibility that the ESS strategy may extend to interspecies interactions, shedding light on the survival strategies of genes through the trade...
Beccaria’s Crime and Punishment had a major impact on the development of the modern criminal justice system by criticizing the harsh punishment practices of 18th-century Europe and proposing a rational, public-interest penal system that aimed to deter and prevent crime and replaced cruel punishment with rational, public-serving punishment. Cesare Beccaria’s Crime and...
In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, the protagonist, Meursault, rejects social conventions and morals, living in the present without regard for emotions and religion. Because of this attitude, he is not understood at his trial and is ultimately marginalized as a stranger and sentenced to death. Introduction Albert Camus’s The Stranger is a mesmerizing story of the glorious...