Pinker on the Brain

Cognitive scientist and Blank Slate suthor Steven Pinker had a sharp piece on overwrought fears about genetic enhancement in yesterday's Boston Globe Ideas section. "My point," he writes,

is not that genetic enhancement is impossible, just that it is far from inevitable. And that has implications. Some bioethicists have called for impeding or criminalizing certain kinds of research in genetics and reproductive medicine, despite their promise of improvement in health and happiness. That is because the research, they say, will inevitably lead to designer babies. If genetic enhancement really were just around the corner, these proposals would have to be taken seriously. But if the prospect is very much in doubt, we can deal with the ethical conundrums if and when they arise. Rather than decrying our posthuman future, thinkers should acknowledge the frailty of technological predictions. They should base policy recommendations on likelihoods rather than fantasies.

Read Reason's own interview with Pinker here.