View in EDS PDF Full Text

The Shattered Self : The End of Natural Evolution

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Shattered Self : The End of Natural Evolution
Description: An exploration of the far-reaching scientific and social changes made possible by advances in molecular biotechnology.Throughout history, we have selected and manipulated the genomes of plants, animals, and even ourselves. Until now, however, such control could be exerted only at the level of the entire organism. Scientific and technological advances now allow us to manipulate genomes directly at the level of single genes and their constituents, with a speed and precision that far exceed what natural evolution has been able to achieve over the past 3.5 billion years. These advances open new possibilities for medicine, biotechnology, and society as a whole. We already have in vitro fertilization and animal cloning; in the future human cloning and the exploitation of embryonic stem cells, among other capabilities, may be routine. At the same time, we are developing machines that will surpass the human brain in raw computing power and building an interconnected world of information-processing devices that makes science fiction pale in comparison. In this book Baldi explores what it is about these phenomena that makes us so uneasy—the shattering of the human self as we know it.Through evolution our brains have been wired to provide us with an inner sense of self, a feeling that each of us is a unique individual delimited by precise boundaries. We have also been wired to reproduce ourselves in a certain way. Baldi argues that this self-centered view of the world is scientifically wrong. Its past success lies in its being an adequate model during our evolutionary bootstrapping: a world without molecular biotechnology, human cloning, and the Internet. Eventually we must come to terms with the fact that genomes, computations, and mind are fluid, continuous entities, in both space and time. The boundary between the self and the world has begun to blur and ultimately may evaporate entirely. Baldi offers not predictions but an open-eyed exploration of our current state of knowledge and the possibilities that lie ahead.
Authors: Pierre Baldi
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Human genome, Genetic engineering, Genetic engineering--Moral and ethical aspects, Bioethics
Categories: MEDICAL / Ethics, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Molecular Biology
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
FullText Links:
  – Type: ebook-pdf
Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 61088
RelevancyScore: 972
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 972.249633789063
IllustrationInfo
ImageInfo – Size: thumb
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$61088$PDF&s=r
– Size: medium
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$61088$PDF&s=d
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: The Shattered Self : The End of Natural Evolution
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: An exploration of the far-reaching scientific and social changes made possible by advances in molecular biotechnology.Throughout history, we have selected and manipulated the genomes of plants, animals, and even ourselves. Until now, however, such control could be exerted only at the level of the entire organism. Scientific and technological advances now allow us to manipulate genomes directly at the level of single genes and their constituents, with a speed and precision that far exceed what natural evolution has been able to achieve over the past 3.5 billion years. These advances open new possibilities for medicine, biotechnology, and society as a whole. We already have in vitro fertilization and animal cloning; in the future human cloning and the exploitation of embryonic stem cells, among other capabilities, may be routine. At the same time, we are developing machines that will surpass the human brain in raw computing power and building an interconnected world of information-processing devices that makes science fiction pale in comparison. In this book Baldi explores what it is about these phenomena that makes us so uneasy—the shattering of the human self as we know it.Through evolution our brains have been wired to provide us with an inner sense of self, a feeling that each of us is a unique individual delimited by precise boundaries. We have also been wired to reproduce ourselves in a certain way. Baldi argues that this self-centered view of the world is scientifically wrong. Its past success lies in its being an adequate model during our evolutionary bootstrapping: a world without molecular biotechnology, human cloning, and the Internet. Eventually we must come to terms with the fact that genomes, computations, and mind are fluid, continuous entities, in both space and time. The boundary between the self and the world has begun to blur and ultimately may evaporate entirely. Baldi offers not predictions but an open-eyed exploration of our current state of knowledge and the possibilities that lie ahead.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pierre+Baldi%22">Pierre Baldi</searchLink>
– Name: TypePub
  Label: Resource Type
  Group: TypPub
  Data: eBook.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+genome%22">Human genome</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Genetic+engineering%22">Genetic engineering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Genetic+engineering--Moral+and+ethical+aspects%22">Genetic engineering--Moral and ethical aspects</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bioethics%22">Bioethics</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectBISAC
  Label: Categories
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22MEDICAL+%2F+Ethics%22">MEDICAL / Ethics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SCIENCE+%2F+Life+Sciences+%2F+Genetics+%26+Genomics%22">SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SCIENCE+%2F+Life+Sciences+%2F+Molecular+Biology%22">SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Molecular Biology</searchLink>
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=nlebk&AN=61088
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 599.93
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Human genome
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Genetic engineering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Genetic engineering--Moral and ethical aspects
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bioethics
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Shattered Self : The End of Natural Evolution
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Pierre Baldi
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Pierre Baldi
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2001
            – D: 04
              M: 02
              Type: profile
              Y: 2014
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780262523349
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780262025027
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780262267632
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: The Shattered Self : The End of Natural Evolution
              Type: main
ResultId 1