Page - 229 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

ConClusion I Ever since the development of rudimentary tools and instruments in ancient history, humanity has used technology to overcome biological limitations. In this context, the original seventeenth-century Enlightenment idea that human beings can build a better future for themselves remains a very power- ful and influential position. But it has also given rise to fundamental debates on the purpose of humanity, freedom of scientific enquiry, democratic gov- ernment and individual liberty.1 It is from this perspective of serious ques- tioning that discussions concerning the possible biological enhancement of human beings have been taking place  – a questioning that may be necessary for individuals to develop in modern society. As Norbert Wiener explains: ‘We have modified our environment so radically that we must now modify ourselves in order to exist in this new environment. We can no longer live in the old one.’2 This means that the hybridisation between human beings and machines may simply be the next step along the road of technoscientific history. At the same time, however, it may be appropriate to be careful relating to the expectations of what will be possible in the near future. As the German ethicists Gerd Grübler and Elisabeth Hildt indicate: ‘While an unrealistic understanding of . . . [neuronal interfaces] raises many of the most spectacu- lar questions in ethics and metaphysics, the real existing . . . [neuronal inter- faces] render them inadequate and require rather sober and detailed work in applied ethics and philosophical anthropology.’3 This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.