Review: Enough, Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben, in his book "Enough" assays to answer these questions and a few more besides. In exploring this "brave new world" he indicates that he is not completely happy with the direction we are going. He is afraid that we are headed for a time and place where humanity will no longer be recognizable. He believes these new technologies have the ability to do what no previous technology could do, change the very essence of our beings.

We have an increasing ability to micro-size things, from computer chips to radios to counter-top appliances. Speculation is that at some point we will be able to build machines that are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. These tiny machines could be programmed to enter the human blood stream to clear blocked arteries. They could be programmed to fight diseases and foreign objects within in the human system, completely replacing the immune system of a person with AIDS. The possibilities seem miraculous. What is more amazing is that many scientists see these technologies put into use within the next ten to twenty years (barring difficulties with the FDA, of course).

Somatic gene therapy has similar wonderful applications, changing our very genetic coding to eliminate genetic diseases and even prolonging human life indefinitely - perhaps forever.

Such incredible advances are applauded and are currently being pursued with vigor. Yet the advances of modern technology have a dark side. They could be used to make super-weapons that could destroy the entire Earth, at least as we know it. Some thinkers have an Apocalyptic vision of self-reproducing nano-robots converting all carbon based life forms into more nano-robots. Their sole function would be to latch onto a living thing, take it apart atom by atom and reformulate it into another being just like itself.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg of what technology is capable of destroying. Bill McKibben believes that becoming part robot by the introduction of nano-technology - and becoming a race of ubber-men by the use of germ-line gene therapy - will erase what is essential about humanity, our very nature. No longer faced with death, sorrow and want we would no longer feel piquant flavor of life. Instead, it would be an endless party that would become dull because of its sameness and complete lack of productivity. In a world where physical, material needs can be met by a mere word (not even going through the trouble of pushing a button) work, one of our highest needs and one of the factors that defines us best as humans would no longer be met.

In "Enough" Bill McKibben clearly describes the potentialities of new technologies and eloquently defines the limits he believes should be placed upon them. One of the limits he defines is to the length of our lives. He sees humanness as defined by our death. "Man is he who knows he will die." It would be a bitter pill to have immortality (if not for us, then at least for our children) to be within our grasp, but then with-held.

Writers as diverse as Robert Frost, Leo Tolstoy and J.R.R. Tolkien have pondered the mortal state of man. Their musings fill the reader with a melancholy longing. It is a sadness that their stories had to end. Perhaps this bitter-sweet feeling is brought about by the inevitability of ending, but it also is filled with the knowledge that there are other great novels, and the realization that in someone's imagination the life depicted continues.

If I could choose for myself, I would choose an unending continuance of this existence, even if it did mean nano-robots coursing in my veins and a few gene splices here or there. Perhaps the meaning of life would be changed. Bill McKibben supposes the death of religion and the demise of humanness. I am not sure that this would necessarily happen, though Mr. McKibben makes a strong case for this possibility.

There is no question that his concerns require careful thought. He makes many good points as when he argues that the technologies we dabble in today will have to be limited and controlled to some extent. We don't want someday to have a nano-robot self-replicating Apocalypse. We don't want super-germs introduced into the atmosphere. We don't want to completely destroy humanity because one person gets a death-wish.

Though Bill McKibben clearly illustrates that a line must be drawn, questions remain. He tells us where he thinks the line should be. Yet there is still plenty of room to debate. "Enough" is a thoughtful, intelligent work, a must read for anyone who wants to understand the emerging technologies of our age and where they are taking us.

This book is available at Amazon.com.