GERAL: Entender as formas de aprimoramento das capacidades cognitivas humanas

sustentadas pelo projeto transhumanista de Nick Bostron e Julian Savulesco

Específicos:
- Analisar a noção de natureza humana e suas limitações apresentadas por
Bostron e Savulescu como fundamento para a proposta transhumanista;
- Identificar as limitações da capacidade cognitiva humana, associados ao
desenvolvimento tecnológico da inteligência artificial;
- Apresentar as propostas de melhoramento da capacidade cognitiva
humana diante do surgimento da superinteligência.

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1. Human Genetic Enhancements: A Transhumanist Perspective

(INFERENCIA TIRADA DE ONDE?) he range of thoughts, feelings, experiences, and activities that
are accessible to human organisms presumably constitute only a tiny part of what is possible.
There is no reason to think that the human mode of being is any more free of limitations
imposed by our biological nature than are the modes of being of other animals.

(USA UM EXEMPLO) Just as chimpanzees lack the brainpower to understand what it is like to
be human, so too do we lack the practical ability to form a realistic intuitive understanding of
what it would be like to be post-human.

(ELENCA ALGUNS EXEMPLOS DE LIMITAÇÃO DO SER) We need not assert that post-human
beings would not be Turing computable or that their concepts could not be expressed by any
finite sentences in human language. The impossibility is more like the impossibility for us to
visualize a twenty-dimensional hypersphere or to read, with perfect recollection and
understanding, every book in the Library of Congress. Our own current mode of being,
therefore, spans but a minute subspace of what is possible or permitted by the physical
constraints of the universe. It is not farfetched to suppose that there are parts of this larger
space that represent extremely valuable ways of living, feeling, and thinking.
(AQUI ELE REALIZA ESPECULAÇÕES SOBRE O CONSEQUENTE MELHORAMENTO -
ENHANCEMENT-) We can conceive of aesthetic and contemplative pleasures whose blissfulness
vastly exceeds what any human being has yet experienced. We can imagine beings that reach a
much greater level of personal development and maturity than current human beings do,
because they have the opportunity to live for hundreds or thousands of years with full bodily
and psychic vigor. We can conceive of beings that are much smarter than us, that can read
books in seconds, that are much more brilliant philosophers than we are, that can create
artworks, which, even if we could understand them only on the most superficial level, would
strike us as wonderful masterpieces. We can imagine love that is stronger, purer, and more
secure than any human being has yet harbored. Our everyday intuitions about values are
constrained by the narrowness of our experience and the limitations of our powers of
imagination. We should leave room in our thinking for the possibility that as we develop greater
capacities, we shall come to discover values that will strike us as being of a far higher order than
those we can realize as un-enhanced biological humans beings.

theory of value such as the one described by David Lewis. On this view, there may be values
that we do not currently want, and that we do not even currently want to want, because we
may not be perfectly acquainted with them or because we are not ideal deliberators

Transhumanism does not require us to say that we should favor post-human beings over
human beings, but that the right way of favoring human beings is by enabling us to realize our
ideals better and that some of our ideals may well be located outside the space of modes of
being that are accessible to us with our current biological constitution.

(introduz uma questão filosófica importante - metafísica)

. It is possible that there are some limitations that are impossible for us to transcend, not only
because of technological difficulties but on metaphysical grounds. Depending on what our
views are about what constitutes personal identity, it could be that certain modes of being,
while possible, are not possible for us, because any being of such a kind would be so different
from us that they could not be us. (então até que ponto o ser "humano" passa a ser "pós-
humano", e um ser que se constituiu não mais por qualquer resquício ontológico de humano,
mas qualquer outra coisa. Essa questão pode ser levada quando se debate a questão
humano-máquina, até que ponto os "generos" nao ultrapassam um ao outro", ou ainda
trazendo aristoteles, quando a --substancia0--- é modificada e não mais apenas o que é
acidental.)

if the mode of being of a post-human being is radically different from that of a human being,
then we may doubt whether a post-human being could be the same person as a human being,
even if the post-human being originated from a human being. (problema ontológico, natureza
humana pós-humana e não humana).

(elenca uma série de "nhancements" que não afetaria a constituição metafísico-ontológica do

Ehancements that would not make it impossible for the post-transformation someone to be the
same person as the pre-transformation person.

A person could obtain considerable increased life expectancy, intelligence, health, memory,
and emotional sensitivity, without ceasing to exist in the process. A person’s intellectual life can
be transformed radically by getting an education. A person’s life expectancy can be extended
substantially by being unexpectedly cured from a lethal disease. Yet these developments are
not viewed as spelling the end of the original person. In particular, it seems that modifications
that add to a person’s capacities can be more substantial than modifications that subtract, such
as brain damage. If most of someone currently is, including her most important memories,
activities, and feelings, is preserved, then adding extra capacities on top of that would not easily
cause the person to cease to exist.

We can value other things than ourselves, or we might regard it as satisfactory if some parts or
aspects of ourselves survive and flourish, even if that entails giving up some parts of ourselves
such that we no longer count as being the same person. Which parts of ourselves we might be
willing to sacrifice may not become clear until we are more fully acquainted with the full
meaning of the options.

(explorar novos valores)

as envisioned by social reformists such as Marx or Martin Luther King. This is not to denigrate
what we can do with the tools we have today. Yet ultimately, transhumanists hope to go
further.

(VER AFECÇÕES DA SUBSTANCIA SPINOZIANA)

3. The Morality of Human Germ-Line Genetic Engineering (pag. 497-498-499)

One exception is genetic engineering, the morality of which has been extensively debated in recent
years. To illustrate how the transhumanist approach can be applied to particular technologies, we shall
therefore now turn to consider the case of human germ-line genetic enhancements. Certain types of
objection against germ-line modifications are not accorded much weight by a transhumanist
interlocutor. For instance, objections that are based on the idea that there is something inherently
wrong or morally suspect in using science to manipulate human nature are regarded by transhumanists
as wrongheaded. Moreover, transhumanists emphasize that particular concerns about negative aspects
of genetic enhancements, even when such concerns are legitimate, must be judged against the
potentially enormous benefits that could come from genetic technology successfully employed. For
example, (primeira objeção encontrada contra a engenharia genética) many commentators worry
about the psychological effects of the use of germline engineering. The ability to select the genes of our
children and to create so-called designer babies will, it is claimed, corrupt parents, who will come to
view their children as mere products. We will then begin to evaluate our offspring according to
standards of quality control, and this will undermine the ethical ideal of unconditional acceptance of
children, no matter what their abilities and traits. Are we really prepared to sacrifice on the altar of
consumerism even those deep values that are embodied in traditional relationships between child and
parents? Is the quest for perfection worth this cultural and moral cost? (o contra-argumento
transhumanista) A transhumanist should not dismiss such concerns as irrelevant. Transhumanists
recognize that the depicted outcome would be bad. We do not want parents to love and respect their
children less. We do not want social prejudice against people with disabilities to get worse. The
psychological and cultural effects of commodifying human nature are potentially important. (primeira
observação sobre tais objeções contrárias) But such dystopian scenarios are speculations. There is no
firm ground for believing that the alleged consequences would actually happen. What relevant evidence
we have, for instance regarding the treatment of children who have been conceived through the use of
in vitro fertilization or embryo screening, suggests that the pessimistic prognosis is alarmist. (inferência
a respeito) Parents will in fact love and respect their children even when artificial means and
conscious choice play a part in procreation. (onde ele embasa essa inferência?). (argumento a favor do
melhoramento) We might speculate, instead, that germ-line enhancements will lead to more love and
parental dedication. Some mothers and fathers might find it easier to love a child who, thanks to
enhancements, is bright, beautiful, healthy, and happy. The practice of germ-line enhancement might
lead to better treatment of people with disabilities, because a general demystification of the genetic
contributions to human traits could make it clearer that people with disabilities are not to blame for
their disabilities and a decreased incidence of some disabilities could lead to more assistance being
available for the remaining affected people to enable them (CAUSA EFEITO)to live full, unrestricted
lives through various technological and social supports. Speculating about possible psychological or
cultural effects of germ-line engineering can therefore cut both ways. Good consequences no less than
bad ones are possible. In the absence of sound arguments for the view that the negative consequences
would predominate, such speculations provide no reason against moving forward with the technology.
Ruminations over hypothetical side-effects may serve to make us aware of things that could go wrong so
that we can be on the lookout for untoward developments. By being aware of the perils in advance, we
will be in a better position to take preventive countermeasures. For instance, if we think that some
people would fail to realize that a human clone would be a unique person deserving just as much
respect and dignity as any other human being, we could work harder to educate the public on the
inadequacy of genetic determinism. TO the extent that the critics have done their job, they can alert us
to many of the potential untoward consequences of germ-line engineering and contribute to our ability
to take precautions, thus improving the odds that the balance of effects will be positive. There may well
be some negative consequences of human germ-line engineering that we will not forestall, though of
course the mere existence of negative effects is not a decisive reason not to proceed. Every major
technology has some negative consequences. Only after a fair comparison of the risks with the likely
positive consequences can any conclusion based on a cost-benefit analysis be reached. (ANÁLISE
CUSTO BENEFÍCIO) -----> In the case of germ-line enhancements, the potential gains are enormous.
Only rarely, however, are the potential gains discussed, perhaps because they are too obvious to be of
much theoretical interest. (PONTO IMPORTANTE, UMA ÉTICA DA MANIPULAÇÃO GENÉTICA) By
contrast, uncovering subtle and non-trivial ways in which manipulating our genome could undermine
deep values is philosophically a lot more challenging. But if we think about it, we recognize that the
promise of genetic enhancements is anything but insignificant. (ARGUMENTO IMPORTANTE) Being free
from severe genetic diseases would be good, as would having a mind that can learn more quickly, or
having a more robust immune system. Healthier, wittier, happier people may be able to reach new
levels culturally (CAUSA EFEITO) . To achieve a significant enhancement of human capacities would be
to embark on the transhuman journey of exploration of some of the modes of being that are not
accessible to us as we are currently constituted (PONTO IMPORTANTE, "MODOS DE SER" UM NOVO
SUJEITO TRANSCENDENTAL (KANT)?), possibly to discover and to instantiate important new values
(NOVA ÉTICA?). On an even more basic level, genetic engineering holds great potential for alleviating
unnecessary human suffering. (argumento de apelo à emoção) Every day that the introduction of
effective human genetic enhancement is delayed is a day of lost individual and cultural potential, and
a day of torment for many unfortunate sufferers of diseases that could have been prevented. Seen in
this light, proponents of a ban or a moratorium on human genetic modification must take on a heavy
burden of proof in order to have the balance of reason tilt in their favor.

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2.

Human enhancement and the future of work

Report from a joint workshop hosted by the Academy of Medical

ciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering

and the Royal Society.

November 2012
Acknowledgements and disclaimer

Cognisant of the lack of debate about the potential impact of human

workplace, the Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy, Royal Academy

© The Academy of Medical Sciences

The term ‘human enhancement’ encompasses a range of approaches that may be used to

improve aspects of human function (e.g. memory, hearing, mobility). This may either be for

the purpose of restoring an impaired function to previous or average levels, or to raise

function to a level considered to be ‘beyond the norm’ for humans.

This is often achieved through technological means, with examples including the following:

• The use of cognitive enhancing drugs to improve memory and concentration.

• The use of hearing aids and retinal implants to improve sensory perception.

• The use of bionic limbs to restore mobility.

These examples demonstrate that new enhancement techniques arise from a range of

disciplines including biotechnology, engineering, neuroscience and computing. The social,

political, ethical, economic and regulatory issues raised by their use further highlight the

interdisciplinary nature of this topic

(pg. 13) 2 Cognitive enhancement

Emerging approaches include the following:

• Cognition enhancing drugs used to treat individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders

could also improve mental faculties such as memory and concentration in healthy

individuals, enabling them to work more efficiently or for longer.

to the ageing workforce. Revealing the optimal timing of treatment onset, as well as the

risk factors that could facilitate cognitive decline, will be invaluable.

• Cognitive training delivered by computer may be able to improve learning, and research

into the ways in which the brain responds to training is beginning to inform software design.

Cognitive training will be most useful if it can provide transferable improvements, rather

than just better performance on specific tasks.

• Brain stimulation, particularly non-invasive techniques, might facilitate improved learning

and training outcomes, but further research will be needed to reveal how it should be used.

• Collective cognition could also facilitate enhanced performance at work. The rise in

ubiquitous communications technologies over the past decade has changed how we work

and is likely to improve efficient and inexpensive coordination and knowledge-sharing. This

brings new opportunities to harness technology to boost the power of a collective network

to solve complex problems. Individuals will in turn use the outputs of collective efforts to

enhance their individual performance.

https://books.google.com.br/books?hl=pt-BR&lr=&id=Tb2-
AAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA417&ots=0CtaqnEUWT&sig=63jYlw_Tyx_KO6tMCUn3qU95l_E&redir_esc=y#v
=onepage&q&f=false

pag 417

3.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00012/full

4.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00195/full

5.

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-25500-017

6.

https://www.nickbostrom.com/superintelligence.html