Move Over, Nature; Enhancement is Here.

Imagine popping a pill and you suddenly find your monogamy completely enthralling. Or you learn French in a year, while Spanish took you eight. Or you stop waking up at night with scary dreams of that car wreck in third grade. Or you find yourself surrounded by altruistic neighbors. Or your Alzhemic grandmother suddenly recognizes you. Imagine.

It's all on the table in the coming "Age of Enhancement," wonderfully profiled by David Edmonds in a new article in Prospect Magazine. Basically, as Edmonds points out, just as we have enhanced our mood stability with drugs like Prozac, our bacterial resistance with antibiotics, our muscle building with steroids, our erectile ability with Viagra, or, for that matter, our concentration and gregariousness with caffeine and alcohol, we now stand at the cusp of an age when we can positively affect aspects of our personality like long-term mate interest, memorization skills, post-traumatic stress, dementia, and the penchant to pilfer. All through drugs.

Of course, there are detractors. Don't mess with nature ... respect the dignity of innate gifts ... be wary of side effects ... the Have's and the Have-Not's ... if God had meant for you to ...  etc. But as with most scientific advancements that bring wide-spread happiness and healing, the ethical markets are bullish on a positive reception. People want to be better, and they will do almost anything to be it.

As a friend of mine says, "nostalgia is a sucker's game." And if I'd had memory pills growing up, I could tell you how to say that in French. Voila!

Photo courtesy of Vladimir Strajnic.