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The late Stephen Hawking has been dead for several months, but the posthumous writings of the innovative scientist show that the great man still had a lot to tell us.
Just days after the online publication of Hawking's latest academic article, the world-renowned physicist is back in the limelight for a different reason: a thorny and controversial prediction of a future that threatens the end of the race human as we know it.
In excerpts from his latest collection of essays – Brief answers to major questions, published this week and presented as his latest message to the world – Hawking warns that genetic engineering can inevitably alter the trajectory of human evolution.
"We are now entering a new phase of what we might call a self-designed evolution, in which we can change and improve our DNA," Hawking writes.
"We have now mapped DNA, which means we have read 'the book of life', so we can start writing corrections."
In the early stages of these discouraging capabilities – made possible by gene editing technologies such as CRISPR – Hawking suggests that genetic changes "will be limited to the repair of genetic defects".
On the other hand, a more complete and absolute change in our physiology, such as the improvement of human intelligence, will take longer and be better controlled, as a larger and more complex gene arrangement will be involved.
Despite the obstacles, as science and technology improve, Hawking predicts a world in which the ability to conceive oneself ultimately will ultimately divide the society, rather than assisting it. # 39; unite.
"I'm sure that during this century, people will discover how to change both intelligence and instincts such as aggression," he writes.
"Laws are likely to be passed against genetic engineering in humans, but some people will not be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory size, disease resistance, and length of life. "
The professor suggests that elites who benefit from this type of genetic increase – what Hawking calls "superhuman" – run the risk of colliding with the natural man, and that the contest could be one that would define the future guard of the planet.
"Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who will not be able to compete," he suggests.
"Presumably, they will die or become irrelevant, instead there will be a race of self-proclaimed beings who improve at an ever increasing rate."
Although Hawking's views on this topic may be considered somewhat alarmist, scientists have been debating CRISPR's ethics for years. Many fear that genetic modifications will lead to things like "designer babies".
In the midst of moral panic, it is important to note that some of the concerns have historical precedent and that any progress does not mean that we leave the ethical science behind us.
But for Hawking at least, superhumans are probably not the biggest threat that humanity is looking at right now.
As he has already discussed, this dubious honor probably comes down to a super intelligent artificial intelligence with dangerous abilities and objectives that does not correspond to that of humans – or to a kind of planetary disaster that extinguishes life on Earth before humans had the chance to leave the ship. .
You can read more about Hawking's reflections on these issues in Brief answers to major questions published this week, or sample premium extracts from The temperature.
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