Call in. Question everything.
#65 Transhumanism
June 25, 2010 · 7 Comments
We explore the predictions and the problems in the quest to “enhance” human beings. We’re joined by George Dvorsky of Sentient Developments and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and blogger Greg Fish. How will advancing technology affect our bodies, our lives, and our society?
And it’s time for another installment of Everything You Know is Sort Of Wrong with Greg Laden. This week: Did Humans Evolve from Apes?
Listen or Download This Episode
« #64 The Cosmetics Cop | #66 Scientific Paranormal Investigation »
7 Comments so far
Records live Sunday at 6pm MT
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
“This week: Did Humans Evolve from Apes?”
Yes and no.
This question is inherently misleading. Humans still are apes, albeit merely one variant. In much the same way, we are still monkeys, of which apes are only one part.
by Mystyk · on June 21, 2010 at 6:02 am
Were you listening to us record? ;)
by Desiree · on June 21, 2010 at 6:10 am
Des, I wish. I would probably find that quite fun. I also spend waaaay too much time each day on ScienceBlogs, so…
(Idea for upcoming episode: live multi-chat with several [4-8] skeptics. We do it already with Virtual DS, so it would just be piping the output onto the air and more clearly setting the conversation rules.)
by Mystyk · on June 21, 2010 at 9:57 am
I love the idea for fun, but I fear that you cannot stop skeptics from speaking over each other, which can make for bad radio.
BUT.
At the Amazing Meeting 8, some of my fellow skeptics and I are doing a live group show: Swoopy from Skepticality, Heidi from Podcast Beyond Belief, and Barbara from ICBS Everywhere.
The facebook event is here: http://www.facebook.com/desiree.schell#!/event.php?eid=130983146929909&ref=mf
If that goes well, your idea is a more realistic possibility. :)
by Desiree · on June 22, 2010 at 4:50 am
Mystyk: Excellent. Many people don’t immediately get the importance of the word “from” in that phrase. “Falsehoods” are often inherently misleading (that is why they are not called “truehoods” but sometimes subtly.
But, wait, there’s more. Are you sure you want to call an ape a monkey? Also, an ape is a mammal. And yes, we want to call an ape a mammal, but isn’t that trivial? Apes are very different from squirrels (also a mammal). At some point, the category we put animals in shifts in order to be useful.
Finally, when you say “humans are apes” what exactly does that imply about humans? What ape characteristics do humans either share with apes or, in some cases, differ from apes in interesting ways. In other words, what is your model of a typical “ape” for the purposes of this discussion?
by Greg Laden · on June 22, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Some people have no spine. How can they be vertebrates? :)
by DrMatt · on June 25, 2010 at 9:34 am
Whoa!
On location Skeptically Speaking at TAM. I guess I have to crash that party.
by Derek Colanduno · on June 28, 2010 at 2:03 pm