Open letter to Barack Obama and Hu Jintao
April 15 2008 / by iPlant
Category: Biotechnology Year: General Rating: 3 Hot
To Mr Barack Obama, the next president of the
United States of America (who did not make use of a recent
opportunity to discuss science in public) 
and President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China (a trained engineer who will without doubt realize the potential of this technology)
Dear Sirs,
As the two who will be most personally responsible for the world in the coming years, I wish to ask your advice on the following issue. We are approaching a local singularity at the emergence of the following technology:
What is an iPlant? 2min, YouTube
By combining deep brain stimulation surgery with brain stimulation reward and other concepts from electronic neuromodulation, it will soon be possible to modulate ascending monoamine systems in human beings. Among other things, this may introduce the possibility of electrically induced, dramatically enhanced or enforced intentionality and sublimination in a person. In my opinion, this constitutes a technological and existential phase shift. The number of unsolved ethical issues now far exceeds the number of unsolved technical issues.
My question is: What should we do?
Sincerely, Christopher A Harris, MSc
Comment Thread (1 Response)
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I can see human experiments on this before 2015. Just beware that goals of the iPlantors are not by default altruistic. Not to be a pessimist here…just opening eyes. The kit on how to make a better assassin, soldier, unethical broker, salesman, molester, religious fanatic, and more would be at ones fingertips. Otherwise, this is exciting stuff!
Posted by: JFC April 15, 2008
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