the benefits and risks of virtue engineering james j. hughes ph.d. executive director, institute for...
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THE BENEFITS AND THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF VIRTUE RISKS OF VIRTUE ENGINEERINGENGINEERING
James J. Hughes Ph.D.
Executive Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging TechnologiesPublic Policy Studies, Trinity [email protected]
Body and Enhancement Technology – Oct 4-6, 2012POSTECH, Pohang, South Korea
Emerging, Converging TechTech that will radically change the human
brain: Psychopharmacology Genetic engineering Nanotechnology Artificial intelligence Cognitive science
The accelerating convergence of all these
“for improving human performance”
Types of Enhancement
Physiological Enhancement Curing disabilities Health Longevity
Cognitive Enhancement Intelligence Emotional control Heightened senses
Moral Enhancement Spiritual experiences Improved moral sensibilities and
behavior
The Goal? Happiness? or More?
Chemical Happiness Wireheading Hedonic happiness
vs. eudaemonia Good mood vs.
a feeling of true accomplishment and developed virtue
Moral Enhancement Necessity
Savulescu and Persson 2012 Unfit for the Future: The Need for Moral Enhancement Humanity isn’t morally foresighted enough to survive our challengesTech super-empowers malevolent individuals Widespread moral enhancement is necessary for survival
Moral Suppression?
Rewards at work or military for less empathy or honestycold rational calculation
We need a social discussion about the risks of moral suppression and the need for moral enhancement
Treating Psychopaths
Identifying and treating psychopaths
Civilization is Moral Enhancement
Learning to act like a human being
Neo-Confucian morality: manners, social skills
Alasdair Macintyre: Virtues are social skills specific to societies
Broad Moral Enhancement
Internal
External
Hardware Software
Brain SystemsMirror neurons Innate sentimentsSelf-control capacityNeurotech therapies
Ethical software Laws, religionSocial normsDecision supportLie detectors Plagiarism checkers Trading surveillanceEhical warbots
Internalized normsMoral reasoningPedagogical methodsMeditation
InstitutionsSchools and churchesPolice and prisonsMoral gadgets UniformsWedding ringsWiring teeth, diet trackers, FitBit
Morality Gadgets
Enclothed cognition: Religious clothing, hair shirts, tefillin, lab coats
Behavior-triggered morality aids: e.g. email language filters, sobriety locks on cars
Moral Enhancement Has Always InvolvedBoth Enculturation and Technology
Shamanic use of entheogens
Iayuvredic vegetarianism: vegan diet makes people calmer, more pure Tryptophan
Chinese herbs for moral control
Moral benefits of fasting
Alcohol and drugs lead to loss of moral self-control
Suppressing Vice is Enhancing of Virtue
Causes of auto accidents Driving norms
Traffic laws and policing
Alcohol
Cell-phones
ADHD
Fatigue
Immorality of intoxication when it endangers others
Immorality of not drinking coffee or taking modafinil when it endangers others
Moral Enhancement Makes Us More Responsible
Understanding neurological causes of behavior allegedly undermines personal accountability
But moral enhancement technologies make us even more responsible
Did you take your pill? Using moral enhancement
tech will be both motivated by social control and be an exercise in self-control
Binding Ourselves is Self-Control
Buddhist Virtues
Self-Control Generosity Wisdom Diligent effort Patience Honesty Determination Loving-kindness Equanimity
Self-Control as Foundation
All philosophical and religious traditions agree
Without self-control we can’t practice any other virtues
Cognitive Liberty
Liberal democratic values Bodily autonomy: right to
control own body Freedom of conscience, thought:
right to control your brain Liberal democracy’s goal of
facilitating self-realization Decriminalizing psychoactive
drugs Brain privacy
Risks to Cognitive Liberty
Moral enhancement doesn’t pose novel challenges, but offers novel solutionsLack of PrivacyOvert ControlOwnership Social NormsNew addictionsUnequal access to neurotech
Overt Control
Soviet psychiatry Extension of debates
over freedom of thought, communication, indoctrination, involuntary commitment
Uses of neurotech to control desire, identity, ideation, knowledge
Defend liberal society, fight totalitarianism
Ongoing need to parse legitimate cognitive liberty from insanity and criminality
Normative Neuro-Authoritarianism
Self-Imposed:
Neuro-enforced patriarchy and theocracy
Amoral workers and soldiers
Transgenders fix brain or body?
Moral Progress and Cognitive Liberty Moral enhancement will change
social norms and definition of criminality
Continually redraw ing of boundaries of cognitive liberty
Slippery slopes apply as much to cultural norms as to moral enhancement technologies
All societies have evolving lines of what constitutes criminal or insane behavior
Sex/gender nonconformity
Rape: from Leviticus, execution and castration to prison and testosterone suppression
Therapies for Drug Dependency
Safer drugs Control of addictions
Alcohol aversion drugs, e.g. naltrexone
Buprenorphine (suboxone) for opiates
Vaccines and gene therapies to prevent or cure addictions
Brain Repair
Radical change in drug war debate
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Wrath: Intermittent Explosive Disorder
6% prevalence? Brain lesions,
genetically linked Treatments:
antidepressants, antipsychotics, beta-blockers, alpha(2)-agonists, phenytoin and mood stabilizers.
Moral Self-Direction
Becoming aware of and controlling external influences
Conscious control of susceptibility to pressure to conform, obey
Spam filters, pop-up blockers, Mean Girl and anti-bullying training
Diligence and Concentration
Stimulants for attention deficit disorder
Loving-Kindness
Impairments inEarly attachmentsOxytocinMirror neurons
Empathy Therapies
Diagnosis for, and subsidized enhancement of, the genetic and neurophysiological bases of empathy and agreeableness
• Oxytocin and serotonin
• Attitudes toward immigrants has a genetic component
• Pathological racism & homophobia as mental disorders
The Right to Be a Jerk
Balancing between Suppressing sociopathyEncouraging pro-social valuesCriminalizing free thought and emotion
Haidt’s Five Moral Intuitions
Liberals: Harm/care Fairness/reciprocityConservatives Ingroup loyalty Respect for
authority Purity/sanctityBeing ethical may require
suppressing some moral intuitions and enhancing others
Suppressing (Im)moral Sentiments
Propranolol suppresses disgust/fear, racism
Pinker and violence – the gradual victory of Enlightenment moral codes
Universalism
Tolerance of diversity
Reinforcing Reasonable Sentiments
Oxytocin & in-group empathy
Serotonin and harm aversion
What is fairness? Who is a cheater/cheated?
Need for wisdom and insight
Openness to Novelty, Ambiguity Openness to novelty,
tolerance of ambiguity, 50% genetic
Related to authoritarianism and fundamentalism
(Eidelman et al 2012) Alcohol makes people more conservative, caffeine more open minded
Psilocybin has long term effect on increasing openness
Moral Cognition vs. Sentiment Balancing wisdom and compassion
Discriminating Wisdom
Moral character is a balanced composite of sentiments, habits and reasoning
Truth is not always virtuous
Wisdom & compassion: The ability to determine right action in the situation is a virtue
Moral effect of enhancement of alertness, memory, cognitive speed, predictive accuracy
Overcoming cognitive biases
Brain-Machine Interfaces
Boundlessness & Absorption Meditation and drugs
breaks down the illusion of continuous, discrete self
Trans-Cranial Magnetic Simulation (TMS) to suppress proprioception
The Promise of Moral Enhancement
Moral enhancementContinuation of ancient spiritual aspirationsHelp for living together Balance against empty hedonismProphylactic for psychopaths, especially once they are enhanced
The Risks
Overt state control of moral sentiments
Self-imposed normative control
Suppression of moral sentiments in order to be more successful as a worker, soldier or socially
For more:
http://ieet.org/archive/ [email protected]