Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

We can now use medical technology to reshape ourselves in
radical ways, both physically and psychologically. The ability
to make these changes affects what we think of as “normal”
because abnormalities are correctable through surgery or medicine. We are
able to use these technologies not only to cure diseases but also to give
ourselves competitive advantages in the marketplace and in sports. Indeed,
the existence of medical technologies is leading to the labeling of some
traits as medical or psychological disorders rather than aspects of one’s
personality because of the social disadvantage these traits convey. Does
our ability to change ourselves mean that we have done away with what it
means to be ourselves?
The phrase the means that to be human is to be
limited, to be confronted with a universe that is more powerful
than you and more complex than you could ever understand, yet
somehow to live a meaningful life.
The classical approach to the human condition is to embrace our
inherent constraints, to admit that we are but small elements of a
larger reality. Then, we construct ourselves as beings whose lives
can nonetheless have meaning in spite of or, indeed, because of
these limitations. We can transcend ourselves through relationships
with others, by alleviating suffering, or through a connection with
the divine.
The contemporary approach to the human condition is different.
down those limitations.
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