Arnhart: Use Posthuman Tech to Excite Kids About Evolution and Biology

Larry Arnhart is one of the stalwarts of the “politics and the life sciences” movement which brings together political scientists interested in health policy, bioethics, evolutionary psychology and transhumanism. In an interview for Connect for Kids he is asked about the intelligent design controversy and how best to inspire kids to study evolution and biology:

“Besides teaching Darwin, do you have any other recommendations for engaging students in biology education?

Arnhart: I would suggest that biology teachers should introduce discussions of the many moral, political, and religious implications of biology. For example, advances in biotechnology are going to change human life. Some people even think that biotechnological power over the human body and mind might eventually create a ‘transhuman’ or ‘posthuman’ species. Why shouldn’t this become a topic for high school students? Wouldn’t such topics stir them to think more deeply about science than they otherwise would?”

But don’t get him wrong. Arnhart isn’t a transhumanist. He is author of Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature and Darwinian Conservatism.  Listen here to a lecture by Arnhart speaking on a panel on “Transhumanism” at the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences in Washington D.C., Sept 1, 2005. He’s very critical of the Nietzschean overtones of the H+ers. But obviously he recognizes the importance and sexiness of the issues.