Metadata#
- Author(s): Nita A. Farahany
- Number of pages: 288
- Year published: 2023
- Year read: 2024
Review#
A fun, wide-ranging, and provocative non-fiction book about the ethics and possibilities of neurotech (aka brain-meddling!!).
So I spent most of this audiobook running and arguing with it in my head. I almost threw the headphones off in an angry huff during the “why ADHD meds are cognitive enhancers and totally fine ok” - I stuck with it, if only because I enjoyed the ethical debating. (Even though I do think the ADHD meds chapter was GOODNESS ME, really eliding some big, obvious downsides to ADHD meds (and steroids). Like, that shit can fuck you up.
The author, Farahany, is a law prof and was on Obama’s bioethics committee. So I do defer to her authority. At the same time, I feel like I’m kinda not into the Singularity/transhumanist world anymore - and I did sense some techbro enthusiasm in Farahany’s writing, which made me eye-roll. But I can’t criticize her too much; she did a decent job of outlining the ethical debate.