Post-human?

THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP

When the haiku meets the double helix

By Nathan Gardels, WorldPost editor in chief

An anxious recognition is dawning: the latest scientific and technological developments are so consequential they can’t be left in the hands of scientists alone. Philosophers, artists and others who think outside the algorithm need to be engaged to fathom what it all means for the human condition. That was a key theme that emerged from a panel on science and art at Frieze Los Angeles last week.

“We are entering an age where we can build our own DNA from scratch. We will create a series of beings that are natural but do not exist in nature,” anthropologist Tobias Rees observed. “What then happens to the distinction between nature and technology when we enter post-human land?”/.../