Note: Page numbers in italics refer to figures.
Advertising, 211–212
AIDS, 121–122
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 82
Amazon, 148
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 59
American Petroleum Institute, 59
American Psychiatric Association, 119
Apple, 147
Apps, 146–147
Armstrong, Karen, 137
Artificial intelligence (AI), 227–233
Association of Library Services for Children, 113
Autonomous vehicles, 206–207
Bacteria, 40–41
Bågenholm, Anna, 38
Bankruptcies, 169
Bannard, Walter Darby, 185
Baumol, William, 159–161
Benedict XVI (pope), 136
Bentham, Jeremy, 141
Berra, Yogi, 89
Big data, 144
Birth control, 15–16
Black, Derek, 220
Black Gauntlet: A Tale of Plantation Life in South Carolina, The, 104
#BlackLivesMatter, 116
Boehner, John, 176–177
Borges, Jorge Luis, 150
Brain, the
in animals versus humans, 82–83
drug alterations of, 46–48, 54–55
neurochemicals in, 45–46
organoids and, 43–45
pain modulation in, 46
in pathologically sick persons, 48–55
renovating, 42–48
Brexit, 9
Brown, Louise Joy, 19
Buffett, Warren, 75–76
Burger King, 79
Bush, Jeb, 187
Calhoun, John C., 115
Calvin, John, 130
abundance and, 66–67
distribution problem with, 68
erosion of the middle class and, 70–72, 74
high-tech industries and, 71–72, 76–77
housing affordability and, 71–73
how much is too much in, 77–78
income inequality and, 75–76
political disagreements and, 73–75
wealth gap and, 69–77
world population growth and, 65–66
Carbon dioxide, atmospheric, 58–60, 65
Cars, autonomous, 206–207
Chappatte, Patrick, 97
Cheney, Dick, 124
China, 223–227
Christianity, 104–105, 125–130. See also Religion
Citalopram (Celexa), 54
Climate change, 57–65, 240–241
as emergency, 64–65
energy alternatives and, 61–63
flooding and, 57–58
ocean warming and, 60–61
Clinton, Bill, 89
Club of Rome, 66
CNN, 210
Collection for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, 152
Compassion, 137
Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, 178–180
Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 179
Computer storage technology, 144–145
Cooper, Thomas, 105–106
Cost disease, Baumol’s, 160–161, 171
COVID-19, 234–241
CRISPR technology, 88
Crockett, Molly, 54
Cronkite, Walter, 94
Dating sites, 151–154
Debt loads, national, 236–237
Decency of people, 215–217
Declaration of Independence, 106
DeGeneres, Ellen, 122
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), 119
Diana, Princess, 122
Disability Life Years (DALY), 165–167
Divorce, 16
Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 50–51
Doomsday Clock, 198
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 111
Duke, David, 220
Dunning-Kruger effect, 206–207
Earley, Pete, 72
Ecstasy (MDMA), 54
Edelman Trust Barometer, 92
Educated: A Memoir, 220
Education
necessity of, for democracy and science, 173
rising costs of, 162–163, 171–172
student debt burden and, 173–174
Eisenstein, Charles, 235
Electricity, 43
Electronic tattoos, 139–151
Emancipation Proclamation, 108
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 97
Emotional states, alteration of, 45
Empathy, 23
Energy, alternative, 61–63
English Navigation Act of 1660, 179
Entitlement, sense of, 186, 188
Environmental sculpting, 85–86
Esvelt, Kevin, 85–87
Ethics, 5–6. See also Right and Wrong
in advertising, 211–212
artificial intelligence (AI) and, 227–233
of brain alteration, 47–48
changing religious, 127–135
compassion in, 137
exponentially changing, 8–9, 212
falling productivity and, 161–167
health care, 170–171
immigration and, 194
money and, 185–186
of new sex, 13–30
pandemics and, 234–241
product-adoption cycles of, 211, 219
of radically redesigning humans, 31–41
as relative, 217–221
sparking interest in, 213–214
teaching about, 100–110
technology changing, 6–8, 156–157
in treatment of animals, 79–84
US-Western versus Chinese, 223–227
of war, 196–199
of wealth concentration in capitalism, 77–78
Evolution of modern humans, 31–32
Exponential technologies, 8–9. See also Technology/ies
capitalism and, 65–78
climate change, 57–65
food production, 79–84
genetic engineering, 84–88
truth and, 89–98
Facebook, 94, 95, 120, 139, 141, 147, 150
FaceDeals, 148
Facial recognition, 147–149
Fear, 210–211
Fertility rates, 16
Financial Times, 150
Flatworms, 42–43
Flooding, 57–58
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 202–203, 204
Foote, Eunice Newton, 59
Fox News, 210
Francis, Pope, 134–135
Franklin, Benjamin, 115
Friedman, Milton, 68
Furman, Richard, 104–105
Future of the Corporation, The, 68
Galileo, 242
Gates Foundation, 167
Gene drives, 84–88
Genetic engineering, 26–28, 36–37, 40, 84–88
Gibson, Dan, 88
Giuliani, Rudy, 89
Global Vaccine Alliance, 167
Google Maps, 145
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 182
Great Recession, 2008, 70
Green, Nancy, 103
Griswold v. Connecticut, 15
Gun ownership, 92–94
Hammer, Dean, 21
Hawking, Stephen, 242
Health care
bankruptcies and cost of, 169
cheaper treatments not prioritized in, 167–171
COVID-19 pandemic and, 235
ethics in, 170–171
hospitals in, 167–169
impact on GDP, 170
pay-to-live paradigm in, 164–167
rising costs of, 163–164
Hemings, Madison, 115
Hemings, Sally, 115
Hibernation, 37–38
High-tech industries, 71–72, 76–77
History
context and, 112–115
endangered and extinct religions in, 125–137
interracial marriage in, 116–117
slow change in awareness of Right and Wrong in, 116–118
of treatment of LGBTQIA persons, 118–125
Hitler, Adolf, 96
Hobbes, Thomas, 65
Homelessness, 72–73
Homosexuality, 20–21
religion and, 135–137
Housing affordability, 71–72
Hubbard, L. Ron, 98
Humans, evolution of modern, 31–32
Hypothermia, 38–39
Hystorioids, 47
IGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition), 87–88
Immigration, 186–189
political narratives surrounding, 192–193
treatment of undocumented kids and, 189–191
Incarceration
mass, 174–180
and mental illness, 51–52
Indentured servitude, 177
Institutions, mistrust in, 91–92
International Organization for Standardization, 152
Interracial marriage, 116–117
In vitro fertilization (IVF), 18–19, 26
Jarboe, Josh, 143–144
Jefferson, Thomas, 103, 112, 115
Johnson, Boris, 197
“Just society,” 162
Kardashian, Kim, 154
Karmaists, 46
Kasich, John, 187
Kelly, Kevin, 67
Khan, Imran, 197
Kim Jong-un, 197
Knoblich, Jürgen, 44
Kwen, David Lee, 180–181
Lab-grown meat, 79–80
Lancaster, Margaret, 44
Law enforcement, 178–180
Lee, Jean, 118
Left-handedness, 21
Lenovo, 147
Letters on the Slave Trade, 106
Levin, Michael, 43
Levodopa, 54
LGBTQIA persons, 21–23, 118–125
culture wars over, 123–125
viewed as evil, illegal, and unnatural, 119–123
Life beyond Earth, 242–245
Lincoln, Abraham, 108, 111–112, 219
LinkedIn, 147
Little House on the Prairie, 113
Longevity, 28
Lowell, Keith, 150
Luddites, 73
Luther, Martin, 130
Macron, Emmanuel, 197
Malthus, Thomas, 66
Marijuana legalization, 176–177
Marriage, interracial, 116–117
Mass incarceration, 174–180
Mayer, Colin, 68
Meaning, 98
Meat, lab-grown, 79–80
Media, mass, 210–211
Medicaid, 168
Medicare, 168
Mein Kampf, 96
Mentally ill persons
homelessness and, 72
neuroscience and, 48–55
Merritt, Levan, 82
#MeToo, 212
Middle class, erosion of the, 70–72, 74
Modi, Narendra, 197
Moll, Joana, 153
Moore, Charles, 182
Moore, Gordon, 71
Moore’s Law, 205
Morlino, Robert, 135
Muotri, Alysson, 44
Musk, Elon, 98
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), 197
Nader, Ralph, 203
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, 176
Nestor, John, 202–203
Netanyahu, Benjamin, 197
Netflix, 237
Neuroscience, 48–55
Newsweek, 156
New York Times, 146, 147, 155, 237
Non-DNA life, 41
NRA (National Rifle Association), 92–94
Nuclear weapons, 197–198
Ocean warming, 60–61
Opportunity Insights, 69
Organoids, 43–45
Pain modulation, 46
Palin, Sarah, 123–124
Panama Papers, 149
Pandemics, 234–241
Parcak, Sarah, 132
Parks, Rosa, 117
Parts of the Holy Bible, Selected for the Use of the Negro Slaves, 105
Patrick, Dan, 94
“Pay-to-live” paradigm, 165–167
Pence, Mike, 123
Personal ads, 152
Pharmaceutical industry, 202–205
Planaria, 42–43
Plastics, 180–184
Plastic surgery, 30
Playboy, 156
Plessy v. Ferguson, 111
Political polarization, 73–75, 95, 96–97, 192–193, 212, 215
Politicians, 165
Politifact, 89–90
Polman, Paul, 68
Popular Mechanics, 79
Population growth, 65–66
PornHub, 154
Pornography, online, 154–155
Portman, Rob, 124
Poverty, 239–240
Precautionary principle, 200–201
Presidential Commission on Bioethics, 46–47
Privacy and surveillance
dating sites and, 151–157
electronic tattoos and, 139–151
Product-adoption cycles of ethics, 211, 219
Productivity
Baumol’s cost disease and, 160–161, 171
ethics and falling, 161–167
Proto-Calvinists, 46
Putin, Vladimir, 197
Racism
in advertising, 212
immigration and, 186–193
Rawls, John, 159, 162, 220–221
Reddit, 94
Redesign of humans
ethics of new sex and, 13–30
evolution of modern humans and, 31–32
gene editing in, 26–28, 36–37, 40
pathologically sick persons and, 48–55
radical, 30–42
renovating our brains in, 42–48
for space travel, 32–42
Rekognition, 148
changing, 125–127
compassion in, 137
evolving and speciating, 127–131
extinct and endangered, 127
judgment and, 135–137
pandemics and, 238–239
technology and evolving, 131–135
viewpoints on Right and Wrong based on, 125–127
Reproduction, 14–30
gene editing and, 26–28
in vitro fertilization (IVF) and, 18–19, 26
Right and Wrong, 217–221. See also Ethics
becoming interested in, 213–214
changing ideas about, 1–6, 99–100, 212–213, 221
remembering the decency of people in discussing, 215–217
seriousness of, 4
Robotic cars, 206–207
Robots, 28–29
Rochman, Chelsea, 183
Rodney & Otamatea Times, 59
Rowland, Cameron, 179–180
Rulloff, Edward, 48–49
Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeology, 132
Schatz, Ben, 120
Schoolcraft, Mrs. Henry R., 103–104
Self-flagellators, 46
Sellaro, Roberta, 55
Sex
birth control and, 15–16
ethics of new, 13–30
leading to reproduction, 14–17
longevity and, 28
pornography and, 154–156
robots and, 28–29
technology altering ethics of, 156–157
Sexism in advertising, 212
Sexual identity, 21–23, 118–125
Sexual orientation, 20–21
Shepard, Matthew, 122
Sims, J. Marion, 105
Singularity, 227
in ancient civilizations, 109
end of American, 108–112
quasi-, 176–177
Smartphones, 145–147
Social capital, 99
Socialism, 71
electronic tattoos and, 139–151
Southern Poverty Law Center, 220
Space travel and exploration, 32–42, 242–245
Starr, Kenneth, 155
Stem cells, 44
Stop and Frisk, 148
Storey, Ken, 37–38
Stormfront, 220
Suicide, 74
Surveillance. See Privacy and surveillance
“Swamp ethics,” 165
Taonii, 148
Tattoos, electronic, 139–151
Technology/ies, 57–65. See also Exponential technologies
brain altering drug, 46–48, 54–55
China and, 223–227
contraceptive, 15–16
dating sites, 151–154
electronic tattoos and, 139–151
ethics changed by, 6–8, 156–157, 210
facial recognition, 147–149
food production, 79–81
genetic engineering, 26–28, 36–37, 40, 84–88
in vitro fertilization (IVF), 18–19, 26
population growth and, 65–66
pornography, 154–156
religion and, 131–135
scarcity-reducing, 65–67
space travel and exploration, 32–42, 242–245
truth and, 89–98
war and, 195–199
Telescopes, 242–243
Tell All Digital, 147
Tennyson, Alfred, 1st Baron (Alfred, Lord Tennyson), 82
Tesla, 207
Theory of Justice, A, 159
Thomas, M. Carey, 112–113, 115
Thompson, Michael, 176
Time, 156
Tinder, 147
Transparency, financial, 153–154
Trump, Donald, 9, 45, 74, 89–91, 155, 187, 189, 197, 215
Truth, 89–98
challenging beliefs and, 95–98
mistrust in institutions and, 91–92
rituals and, 127
Tufekci, Zeynep, 91
Tumblr, 147
Twitter, 71, 89, 94, 95, 120, 139, 147, 210
Uber, 145
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 103–104
Unilever, 68
UN Millennium Development Goals, 66
Vinge, Vernor, 227
Voltaire, 189
Walmart, 237
War profiteering, 194–199
Washington Post, 90
Watson, James, 19
Waze, 145
Weather Channel, 210
Westover, Tara, 220
WhatsApp, 76
White Nationalist Movement, 220
Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 113, 115
Wired, 67
World Health Organization (WHO), 167
Xenophobia, 188–189
Xi Jingping, 197
Yale, Eli, 115
Yamanaka, Shinya, 43–44
Years of Life Lost (YLL), 168
YouPorn, 154
Zika virus, 85–86
Zucman, Gabriel, 77