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Converging NBIC Technologies for Improving Human Performance: A Critical Assessment of the Novelty and the Prospects of the Project

In recent times, optimistic views have been advanced about the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science and the way in which this so-called “NBIC convergence” could and should be used to enhance human performance, such as to improve our sensory, motorial and/or cognitive abilities, as well as our moods and physical appearance. These ideas have been elaborately developed and presented in several “NBIC workshops” in the US. This contribution focuses on two claims made by the proponents of the NBIC convergence. First, it is argued that the project of “Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance” represents something genuinely new and quite unique. Second, it is maintained that the future prospects of this project are extraordinarily positive. In order to critically assess these two claims I will first focus on the question of whether there is indeed anything genuinely new about the project of improving human performance by means of converging NBIC technologies. Next I will analyze whether the project warrants that we be optimistic about its future prospects.