The Future: Citizen Cyborgs or Brave New World?

With each author releasing a new book on technology and humanity's future, Betterhumans asked James Hughes and Wesley J. Smith to review the other's offering

(PRWEB) January 16, 2005 -- Is technology taking us to a freer or more frightening future? Authors James Hughes and Wesley J. Smith have addressed this issue in new books that come to radically different conclusions. So Betterhumans asked each author to review the other's offering. And the sparks flew. "This latest book from lawyer-activist Wesley J. Smith is a clear example of the circuitous path that that bioconservative leftists take in becoming bioconservative right-wingers. The first step is skepticism at the possibility of human progress," writes Hughes of Smith's Consumer's Guide to a Brave New World.

"James Hughes may be a bioethicist and a professor of health policy at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, but his real calling is as an evangelist for the nascent materialist quasi-religion of transhumanism," writes Smith. "In this sense, Hughes' first book, Citizen Cyborg, is not merely a polemic; it is an epistle urging transhumanists to remain true to the tenets of their faith."

Read The Reviews
- Both reviews are available free of charge on Betterhumans.com. Follow the links below or visit www.betterhumans.com.
- Drawing a Stem Cell Line in the Sand
http://www.betterhumans.com/Features/Reviews/Book_Reviews/Nonfiction_Reviews/review.aspx?articleID=2005-01-12-1
By James Hughes
- An Epistle for the New Religion of Transhumanism
http://www.betterhumans.com/Features/Reviews/Book_Reviews/Nonfiction_Reviews/review.aspx?articleID=2005-01-12-2
By Wesley J. Smith

About James Hughes
James Hughes, PhD, teaches Health Policy at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut and serves as the Executive Director of the World Transhumanist Association. Dr. Hughes also produces the weekly syndicated public affairs talk show Changesurfer Radio, contributes to the democratic transhumanist Cyborg Democracy blog and writes the Change Surfing Betterhumans column. His Website is www.changesurfer.com/Hughes.html.

About Wesley J. Smith
Award winning author Wesley J. Smith, is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a special consultant for the Center for Bioethics and Culture. He is an international lecturer and in 2004 was named one of America's foremost experts in bioengineering by the National Journal. His Website is www.wesleyjsmith.com.

About Betterhumans
Urging people to "Create the Future (TM)," Betterhumans is a multimedia production company addressing issues and developments in science and technology with the goal of helping people understand, anticipate and create the future.

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