Human Enhancement Projects: What Do Russian Young People Think of the Need for Them and of Their Consequences?
The paper shows human “enhancement” projects and approaches to the “human enhancement” issue in the historic perspective starting from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh up to the present day. The examples demonstrate the transition from the ideas of the immortal human (in mythology, etc.) to the ideas of educating the new human during the Age of Enlightenment and later in the early Soviet Era. In the second half of the 20th century, a new school was formed - transhumanism, which has a new consideration of the human prospect, their position and image in the future; the subject of post-human is discussed (their physical perfection through cyborgization, asexuality, artificial propagation, distributed individuality, unlimited longevity, etc.). The author presents the findings of the empirical study of Russian students conducted in 2016-2017 and involving the author. The sample included 733 people. It was revealed that the assumption that young people support the ideas of the post-human needs confirmation, and the desired results do not completely correspond to the real ones. The social subjectivity that is assumed by young people is essential to this process. This circumstance is studied by means of the thesaurus conception of young people. It is shown, in particular, that the evaluations that Russian young people make of human development prospects through medical and biotechnologies influencing their nature are not based on the professional qualities acquired by young people, but on the social and cultural mindsets of the given society.