Felix's Documentation of Teaching at NYUAD

Engineering Design Studio (A5, 015)
Thursday, October 4, 2018, 11:50 am – 13:05 am

• Update on M&M class trip…
• A statement on the use of media and technology ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKd2QVrQVIM

Room for thoughts: The Next Human, National Geographic, April 2017 ⇒ Article: Beyond Human (p. 40 ff.)

• Are we on the way to redefining how we evolve? Does the evolution now mean not just the slow grind of natural selection spreading desirable genes, but also everything we can do to amplify our powers and the powers of the things we make – a union of genes, culture, and technology? And if so, where is it taking us?
• Technology vs. Natural Selection: Charles Darwin published in 1859 his theory on evolution. Is what was true then still true today? Was it true even in Darwin's lifetime? ⇒ Milford Wolpoff paraphrases this by saying “If you can ride a horse, does it matter if you can run fast?” What does this mean in context of technology enabling us to overtake the horse rider with an airplane?
• DIY evolution, Humanity-plus: Preferring to get babies with another hair, or eye colour? What becomes the new norm as we try to improve ourselves? Who sets the bar, and what does enhancement mean? You might enhance people to make them smarter, but does smarter equal better or happier? Should we be enhancing morality? And what does that mean? (Linda MacDonald Glenn, bioethicist, California State University, Monterey Bay)
• Near future: Science Fiction becomes reality: Cyborg (part human, part machine)
• Distant future: Life on Mars ⇒ in response to the atmosphere and 40% gravity the new martians will evolve into tall and thin beings without hair (Chris Impey, Prof. of Astronomy, University of Arizona)

Watch Blade Runner and ExMachina