Stephen Carter Books

Bioconversations

Friday May 7, 2010

Sorry to have been away so long.  I was actually finishing another book -- now, happily, about done.

Actually, I want to mention this time something that is only tangentially related to my writing, but is nevertheless of enormous importance to all of us.  I have in mind the ways in which rapidly changing technology is threatening to change what it means to be human.  Seriously.  You might think that the question of the nature of humanity belongs to God, or perhaps to all of us.  There is no reason to suppose that it belongs instead entirely to the scientific community.

A new project, Bioconversations, is encouraging citizen dialogue about the way that science is changing us.  The project is not aimed at demonizing scientific researchers, who after all continue to bring us all sorts of remarkable advances.  The project is aimed, rather, at trying to make sure that all of us, in our democratic society, have a chance to be heard about the directions in which we want to go -- and about the directions in which we don't.  The project is a joint venture among Mothers for a Human Future, the Jamestown Project, and the Public Conversations Project.  It features thought-provoking videos, along with regular blog posts, about what is happening out there in the world of science, and how it might affect our humanity.  I am proud to add that my wife is affiliated with this project.

The Bioconversations website has just posted its first thought-provoking video.  Why not take a look?  It is our future, and our children's future, that is at stake.

Posted by Stephen Carter at 07:14pm