Scenarios to Consider

Continuing the discussion from last time, let’s look at a couple of possible scenarios. There are a lot of unknowns about technology so these are really hypothetical scenarios rather than real predictions. These are useful to consider because they help make the five principles concrete. Here are the five principles: 1. Natural form of the body matters, 2. The soul matters to the body, 3. What is the purpose of technology, 4. Treat the body as made in the image of God, 5. Technology is a tool.

The first scenario to consider: a third arm implant. While this might seem strange, this seems like a pretty reasonable development. If there is a way to implant a third arm on a body, then that could offer a number of interesting possibilities for people. An extra hand to hold a phone, operate a machine, complete a complicated task. How do the principles in the last article apply to this?

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Introduction

Computer technology is changing rapidly. There are many wonderful gifts with this technological advancement and there are also many issues that accompany it. One of the challenges facing the Church is thinking through the morality of these developments and working out principles that help guide the use of these new tools. There are technological developments where the morality of the issue is not complicated and is obviously wrong (e.g. robosex, etc) and then there are other developments that are more complicated. Acknowledging the complication in this matter is not an excuse to ignore these things, but rather this means we need to think carefully about them. This means that we need to get the conversation going now in order to arrive at a thoughtful position. In keeping with that spirit, this discussion is offered as a prompt (divided into two articles).

In this discussion, I will focus on tech implants. What I mean by that term is a piece of technology that you would physically and permanently attach to your body. These implants could include things like an earphone implant in your ear, a digital bar-code implant in your hand, or even an extra computer arm. While some of these might seem bizarre and far-fetched, the point is to consider the principles involved rather than trying to predict the next technological development.

This is an important discussion because we live in a time which emphasizes the fluidity between the human body and our identity. This discussion on tech implants is downstream from the fundamental questions of what is the human body and how should we understand the relationship between body and soul. In these discussions, we must emphasize that God designed us as bearing His image which in turns gives dignity to the human person.

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