Icarus

We might think that the idea of human enhancement is a strictly contemporary concern, born of our technological age. However, stories of our desire to push our bodies beyond their limits are long established. In Greek mythology, Icarus and his father Daedalus, exiled together on Crete, planned their escape from the island through flight. Daedalus was a master craftsman – the architect of the labyrinth designed to imprison the Minotaur at Knossos. Fashioning wings from feathers and wax, Daedalus warned his son to ‘keep the middle way’ and not dip into the sea or fly too close to the sun. But Icarus soared higher and higher until the sun melted the wax holding his wings together, the feathers fell away and he disappeared into the sea. Although we have long imagined what it might mean to have additional powers and capabilities, it seems impossible to imagine these opportunities without considering the potential accompanying pitfalls. It is an enduring aspect of the debate surrounding human enhancement: the question of not just what is possible but at what point we should stop.