Biomedical sciences and society
Lecture 1
PPT: Science & Technology and society are intertwined, meaning that they merge through
mutual shaping, their development in fork-shaped, messy: often unexpected and can take a
completely different trajectory. S&T can be part of the solution to all sorts of challenges, but
it can also be part of the problem as well, such as when talking about pollution, emissions,
inequalities, diseases, unwanted effects, etc., and there are also numerous mismatches in
S & T - society, such as vulnerable groups and minorities, for whom we consider the
problem to be, such as the cochlear implant. Is it a problem for deaf people?
“Of course it’s not a ethical”:
- S&T as part of the solution: an alteration of the genome would disable the gene
CCR5, in order to block the pathway the HIV virus uses to enter the cells, so it would
prevent diffusion of the virus. It’s also a solution for parents with HIV that don’t want
to burden their child with HIV.
- S&T as part of the problem: the altered DNA would be passed to offsprings, which
might create medical and ethical problems, such as creating a new ‘elite’, which is
able to spread the virus without showing any symptoms. There might be adverse
effects on the baby that could not be predicted. Children without the editing might
suffer from disadvantages. Not giving the embryo the chance to decide whether they
want to get involved in genome editing.
- Mismatches S&T and society: not all ethics are respected, maybe certain groups in
societies don’t want to get genome editing because of their beliefs. Are we as
humans in the position to make such decisions with long-term impact that go
beyond our lives and our grandchildren?
Instrumental view: society uses technology for its own goals.
Deterministic view: technology determines how society is doing and what it can do.
Interactive view (Designing): they both influence and are influenced by each other, society
can ask itself what kind of world we wanna live in, and after which technology helps us
create it.
Interactive view (Adaptive): they both influence and are influenced by each other, but the
other way around, society being reinvented in order to promote technological development.
Yuval Noah Harari:
- Lesson 1: stories are what make us the strongest animal on the planet, our
communication is what allowed us to win the evolutionary race , the ability to tell each
other stories, of which the best ones win, the one which benefits us the most as a
whole. An example is religion, with the story of Catholicism.
- Lesson 2: Today’s dominant narrative is humanism, meaning that the beliefs are not
more restricted to regions, but nowadays everyone is aware of the many kinds
present out there. This is what makes humanism the story that dominates the world,
meaning that humans are the central element and individual freedom is the greatest
asset. We also believe in science, rationality, progress, technology and
self-actualization. It has many variants, liberalism being the most commonly chosen,
which allows us to express humanism and translate ideas at the base of humanism
into specific moral codes, laws and political aspirations.
, - Lesson 3: all our future narratives involve algorithms, which might replace us.
Algorithms make our world easier, giving us more ways to express ourselves, they
will be part of our future for sure, but will they just exist by human side,
techno-humanism, or will they take over the domination of the world, dataism?
He has an interactive adaptive view.
Kevin Kelly - Ted talk
Deterministic view: he talks about changes in technology that simply happen on its own
account, without people being able to control it, just possibly finding the right way to use it
and it changes a lot how society is shaped. The term technology wasn’t used until 1952,
though it is essential for human survival, and it has become the most powerful force today,
because everything that’s changing is changing and progressing because of technology.
Differences between Kelly and Harari: the former is optimistic about the future of
technology and its power on society, believing that it has its own course and we should not
try to stop it, just shape our society based on it. On the other hand Harari has a more
negative point of view, since he argues that technology might take over the dominance of the
world, replacing humans, meaning that we won’t be able to make our own independent
decisions, but they would be based on technological development.
Workgroup 1
The Birth of the Pill: The birth control pill story begins in 1950, when a scientist named
Pincus helped a woman who “loved sex”, Sanger, to avoid remaining pregnant. Sanger’s
goal was to free women from the fear of being pregnant every time they had sex. The
scientist managed to find a solution in progesterone injections, which became the base
principal of the pill. What is striking about this story is that the scientists that worked on the
invention of the pill didn’t ask their patients for informed consent, and they didn’t even warn
them about the possible risks. The pill exists today just because it didn’t create any trouble
and it worked well, so that it was approved by the FDA in 1960 in the US.
The development of the birth control pill is intertwined with sexual revolution, including
normalization of sex and decoupling sexuality from reproduction which led to women’s
emancipation and emancipation of homosexuals. However, its development was enabled by
power inequalities, between scientists and subjects, who were subjected to experiments
without knowing.
Generally, societal changes refer to changing roles and positions of particular societal
groups in society, changing norms and values across society, and changing societal views
on aspects of life.
Down’s syndrome: NIPT prenatal test was invented in order to have the possibility to
diagnose the embryos with Patau’s (13), Edward’s (18) and Down’s syndrome (21). For
scientists this was an abnormous step forward, because it allowed women to avoid doing
invasive prenatal tests, such as amniocentesis, which might lead to miscarriages. On the
other hand, some mothers of children affected by Down’s syndrome might argue that
introducing this test, and making it free, might lead to a reinforcing loop, meaning that if the
test is available and free, more people will do it, and therefore more people will terminate
pregnancy with Down’s babies. This will have negative consequences for the Down’s
community, which will lose ‘participants’, and with time their abnormalization might become
stronger.
Lecture 1
PPT: Science & Technology and society are intertwined, meaning that they merge through
mutual shaping, their development in fork-shaped, messy: often unexpected and can take a
completely different trajectory. S&T can be part of the solution to all sorts of challenges, but
it can also be part of the problem as well, such as when talking about pollution, emissions,
inequalities, diseases, unwanted effects, etc., and there are also numerous mismatches in
S & T - society, such as vulnerable groups and minorities, for whom we consider the
problem to be, such as the cochlear implant. Is it a problem for deaf people?
“Of course it’s not a ethical”:
- S&T as part of the solution: an alteration of the genome would disable the gene
CCR5, in order to block the pathway the HIV virus uses to enter the cells, so it would
prevent diffusion of the virus. It’s also a solution for parents with HIV that don’t want
to burden their child with HIV.
- S&T as part of the problem: the altered DNA would be passed to offsprings, which
might create medical and ethical problems, such as creating a new ‘elite’, which is
able to spread the virus without showing any symptoms. There might be adverse
effects on the baby that could not be predicted. Children without the editing might
suffer from disadvantages. Not giving the embryo the chance to decide whether they
want to get involved in genome editing.
- Mismatches S&T and society: not all ethics are respected, maybe certain groups in
societies don’t want to get genome editing because of their beliefs. Are we as
humans in the position to make such decisions with long-term impact that go
beyond our lives and our grandchildren?
Instrumental view: society uses technology for its own goals.
Deterministic view: technology determines how society is doing and what it can do.
Interactive view (Designing): they both influence and are influenced by each other, society
can ask itself what kind of world we wanna live in, and after which technology helps us
create it.
Interactive view (Adaptive): they both influence and are influenced by each other, but the
other way around, society being reinvented in order to promote technological development.
Yuval Noah Harari:
- Lesson 1: stories are what make us the strongest animal on the planet, our
communication is what allowed us to win the evolutionary race , the ability to tell each
other stories, of which the best ones win, the one which benefits us the most as a
whole. An example is religion, with the story of Catholicism.
- Lesson 2: Today’s dominant narrative is humanism, meaning that the beliefs are not
more restricted to regions, but nowadays everyone is aware of the many kinds
present out there. This is what makes humanism the story that dominates the world,
meaning that humans are the central element and individual freedom is the greatest
asset. We also believe in science, rationality, progress, technology and
self-actualization. It has many variants, liberalism being the most commonly chosen,
which allows us to express humanism and translate ideas at the base of humanism
into specific moral codes, laws and political aspirations.
, - Lesson 3: all our future narratives involve algorithms, which might replace us.
Algorithms make our world easier, giving us more ways to express ourselves, they
will be part of our future for sure, but will they just exist by human side,
techno-humanism, or will they take over the domination of the world, dataism?
He has an interactive adaptive view.
Kevin Kelly - Ted talk
Deterministic view: he talks about changes in technology that simply happen on its own
account, without people being able to control it, just possibly finding the right way to use it
and it changes a lot how society is shaped. The term technology wasn’t used until 1952,
though it is essential for human survival, and it has become the most powerful force today,
because everything that’s changing is changing and progressing because of technology.
Differences between Kelly and Harari: the former is optimistic about the future of
technology and its power on society, believing that it has its own course and we should not
try to stop it, just shape our society based on it. On the other hand Harari has a more
negative point of view, since he argues that technology might take over the dominance of the
world, replacing humans, meaning that we won’t be able to make our own independent
decisions, but they would be based on technological development.
Workgroup 1
The Birth of the Pill: The birth control pill story begins in 1950, when a scientist named
Pincus helped a woman who “loved sex”, Sanger, to avoid remaining pregnant. Sanger’s
goal was to free women from the fear of being pregnant every time they had sex. The
scientist managed to find a solution in progesterone injections, which became the base
principal of the pill. What is striking about this story is that the scientists that worked on the
invention of the pill didn’t ask their patients for informed consent, and they didn’t even warn
them about the possible risks. The pill exists today just because it didn’t create any trouble
and it worked well, so that it was approved by the FDA in 1960 in the US.
The development of the birth control pill is intertwined with sexual revolution, including
normalization of sex and decoupling sexuality from reproduction which led to women’s
emancipation and emancipation of homosexuals. However, its development was enabled by
power inequalities, between scientists and subjects, who were subjected to experiments
without knowing.
Generally, societal changes refer to changing roles and positions of particular societal
groups in society, changing norms and values across society, and changing societal views
on aspects of life.
Down’s syndrome: NIPT prenatal test was invented in order to have the possibility to
diagnose the embryos with Patau’s (13), Edward’s (18) and Down’s syndrome (21). For
scientists this was an abnormous step forward, because it allowed women to avoid doing
invasive prenatal tests, such as amniocentesis, which might lead to miscarriages. On the
other hand, some mothers of children affected by Down’s syndrome might argue that
introducing this test, and making it free, might lead to a reinforcing loop, meaning that if the
test is available and free, more people will do it, and therefore more people will terminate
pregnancy with Down’s babies. This will have negative consequences for the Down’s
community, which will lose ‘participants’, and with time their abnormalization might become
stronger.
