Let's Broaden Our View of Cloning

摘要

New technologies such as cloning are best evaluated in a larger context of technological changes. Michael Mautner's article, "Will Cloning End Human Evolution?" (THE FUTURIST, November-December 1997), certainly raises some interesting caveats to the coming availability of cloning humans. Unfortunately, the author makes two mistakes common in attempts to evaluate the future impacts of a technology: First, he postulates that cloning will universally replace older technologies, and second, he considers the issue in a vacuum, disregarding the influence of other developing technologies.