Daniel Whitaker

This exhibit is about the future. It focuses on the generation that will be involved with the next 20 to 25 years – well within the age group of the students in this school. During this period, humanity is poised to probably go through a profound change. One that will potentially shift what we will define as human – that is if that concept will still be pertinent by then.

Let’s begin with a trend; in the past few years, people that were once considered disabled have found new strength and personal identity in the disability that afflicts them. For instance, today there are athletes with prosthetic legs that have begun to compete with “normal” athletes. There are people in the media like singers who have made a name for themselves by accepting their prosthetic limbs and using their disability as a means of expression – the difference that discerns them from normal people, as a means to reaffirm themselves. Also, there are companies that not only develop limbs designed to help the user deal with his/her disabilities and accept them, but also provide means for anyone to download the files necessary to 3D print their own limbs. And people are giving new meaning and functions to these new limbs. Meanings beyond what is understood to be human.

Furthermore, technology is also pathing the way for the next step in what means to be human, from implants that will record our vital signs and send them directly to our doctors, to groups of people dedicated to hacking the body, seeking to give it new functions. But it does not stop there. The next years to come will bring even stranger things. Currently, scientists are working on new technologies that will enable us to control our very DNA (through advancements like CRISPR Cas9), thus giving us the ability not only to treat illnesses in a novel and very efficient way, but it will also give us the capacity to design our very own evolution.

So in the very near future, evolution will become something personal.

But here is a thought provoking question; will these technologies be available for all, or will they serve only those with greater means? Would this create a new form of biological/technological elites?

This exhibit is designed to put these upcoming technological advancements into question, and help the viewer come to his or her own conclusions. The MuseOn will be a platform for discussion; for exchanges of views, welcoming different opinions and furthering the debate on the future of Humanity.