Letters

When inspiration strikes, don't bottle it up. Email me at [e-mail] Keep them short and keep them coming!

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Neanderthal Resurrection

DEAR EDITOR: The piece on de-extinction by John Kennedy Philip in Issue 170 summarised the main concerns regarding the subject; the only part it didn’t mention was AI, which may have an increasingly significant role in gene technologies. My point for reflection is this: should we not seriously consider the reestablishment of extinct hominid species first? My view is that we absolutely should - the only caveat being that we'd need to accord each member of these revived species full human rights. But once we've done that, we'd have a diversity unseen since the prehistoric period. It’d be very interesting for us as human beings of the 21st century. The social, artistic, and spiritual implications are likely to be profound. This is before we even discuss transhumanism, which seeks to create new forms of human life. I'd say we'd better start with forms that have already walked this Earth before we try anything more radical. Put simply, if we can’t manage to live alongside our Neanderthal cousins, we probably aren’t ready for anything more ambitious.

ANTHONY A. MACISAAC,INSTITUT CATHOLIQUE DE PARIS

The Employment of Politics