Get Smarter Reaction

            According to Cascio, people we been augmenting our ability to think for millennia adjusting our minds to cope with the current state we live in. Such is the case of Homo sapiens following the Ice Age. As animals shrunk in number and their movement patterns changed, Homo sapiens developed their hunting abilities. These new abilities allowed Homo sapiens to kill animals while they were moving, as well as determining what their movements would be.

            I am open to evolving into Cascio’s idea of “You+” in some ways. For instance, I’m entirely open to making further technological advances with computers and other information centered devices that are separate from myself. I believe that these technologies will allow us to make our lives more efficient through their ability to carry out many daily activities. I am also in favor of the legal use of drugs such as Modafinil for select activities in one’s schedule. However, I do not believe that such a drug should be used regularly as it will enable people to give each other a large number of tasks in a short period of time, which would make the drug a necessity. I am also not in favor of adding technological devices such as computer chips into the bodies of perfectly functional people.

            I think the use of drugs really depends on the situation in which they are used. For instance, those people who have jobs that require them to have great awareness for long periods of time should be fully allowed to use such drugs. These people include truck drivers and guards of high-security building. I think it should also be ok for people given a large task with a very short timespan to complete it. However, I do not believe that these drugs should be used to compensate for people with poor time management who choose to work on a task at the last moment.

            I think Cascio would respond by speaking of what positives such advances in knowledge would make. For instance the new knowledge and technology would allow the world to see medical advances, which would combat major illnesses and add years to a person’s average life expectancy. New knowledge would also be combating major issues it faces, such as the energy crisis. Cascio approaches such knowledge from an optimistic standpoint by assuming people will use it for positive purposes.