Did anyone out there raise their hand? If you did, I congratulate you. But, if you’re like me, a list of minor malfunctions and maladies that you’d love to fix popped up in your head. None of us are perfect, there is always something to improve. We are, after all, only human. And most of us would jump at a chance to improve some of those little issues.

The last time I went to the doctor’s office, the nurse who took my vitals said, “What are you doing here? You’re as healthy as they come!” That can hardly be true. I eat street-vendor food more often than I go to the gym. How can I be a picture of health? The fact is, I’m not. Just because I’m not ill (save the sniffles from the end of a cold) and not injured, doesn’t mean that I am, by default, as healthy as I could be.

For some bizarre reason, we don’t think about our bodies that way when it comes to health care and self improvement. We don’t pursue excellent health the way we strive to be better in our hobbies and work. So, where did we get the idea that mediocre health is good enough?

It’s simple. When we look at our bodies, we apply the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I hate that saying. It’s one of the most anti-human phrases out there. No one who ever innovated, pioneered, explored or invented ever said that to themselves. The people who push the human race forward look at everything around them and say, “I think I might know how to make this better.”

As Oxford bioethicist and human enhancement proponent extraordinaire Julian Savulescu says, “to be human is to be better.”

To see the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset in action, let’s look at an example...

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