Wesley J. Smith

DoveThis ad has been around awhile, but I think it punctures the transhumanists’ naive presumption that the post human future would be wildly individualistic and iconoclastic. I believe the opposite would be true. Just as today we are herded by social pressures and corporate advertisements . . . . Continue Reading »

We so often hear that physician-assited suicide is about “choice.” The patient’s to die, and the doctors to either facilitate suicide or not. But the new Hawaii bill to legalize assisted suicide requires doctors to participate—either by prescribing poison or cooperating with . . . . Continue Reading »

I was interviewed on Saturday in a talk radio format, but it is a podcast called Peering Into the Darkness, with Derek and Sharon Gilbert. The topic was transhumanism and related issues. What astounds me is that communication technology is moving so fast that it is hard to keep up. While not quite . . . . Continue Reading »

This is wrong. A boy decides he is a girl—a boy—and psychiatrists and doctors agree to get on with the hormones before he has even had a chance to experience puberty and perhaps come to different conclusions. The worry was that experiencing puberty would itself be traumatic for a boy who . . . . Continue Reading »

I have noticed that many of the most commented upon posts here at Secondhand Smoke have to do with transhumanism, futuristic technologies, and whether we will remain fully human in the coming biotech age. Well, for those interested in such things, my friend Nigel Cameron has a blog up and running in . . . . Continue Reading »

Now, here’s a story of how and why transhumanism isn’t going to cure what ails the human condition: Second Life, which I had not even heard of until a correspondent wrote asking to interview me about it a short time ago, allows players to lead virtual lives. Say, you are a lawyer and . . . . Continue Reading »

I just checked at the NIH Web site to see the latest NIH funding levels for ESCR. Wow. Between fiscal 2003-2007, the Feds will have shelled out approximately $161 million for human embryonic stem cell research. Add in $492 million for ESCR in animals, and the total over five years comes to a . . . . Continue Reading »

Of course he does, and of course, he is allowed to do so in the New York Times. You see, although he doesn’t say it in this article explicitly, to Peter Singer, Ashley is not a person. That means that if it serves her parents’ “interests,” they had every right to give her . . . . Continue Reading »

The Times of London is reporting,“Sir Richard Branson will launch his most controversial business to date as he moves into stem-cell storage and the biotech sector.” Huh? The stem cells in question come from umbilical cord blood. How in the world could that be considered . . . . Continue Reading »

With the murderer Jack Kevorkian soon to be released from prison on parole, he has to think about earning a living. According to this story, he has decided to go into business as what he calls a circumcision consultant. From the story: “Kevorkian was asked if his circumcision consulting might . . . . Continue Reading »