What is the Next Stage of Human Evolution?
“Rapture” Offers an Answer, Incomplete Though it Might Be Comments: “Rapture” is a honestly interesting book, and worthy of serious consideration. It explores the bio-utopian impulse in modern America, charting the last thirty-some years of research into human biology and how it might apply to a range of issues. These include not only the decoding of the human genome for the improvement of human life, however also the possibilities of life extension for decades and perhaps centuries. Those who advocate life extension see a “brave new world,” pun intended, in which all are healthy, happy, and wise. They view it as the next stage in human evolution. It is a heady goal,1that has consumed some billionaires and fueled a revolution in bio-technology. Public advocates in the United States range from billionaire William Haseltine to Ray Kurzweil, however include thousands more in a subculture known to few. Advocacy of bio-utopian ideas opens a wide array of ethical considerations, and oppositi
