The Future of You by Tracey Follows

Author:Tracey Follows
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783965465
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

One of the most pored-over definitions of what we mean by ‘person’ or ‘personal identity’ must surely be that of seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke. In his magisterial work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he suggested that the term ‘person’ be defined as: ‘a thinking intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself’. He goes on to suggest a ‘thought experiment’, asking his readers to consider the case of ‘the prince and the cobbler’. What, he asks, would happen if the soul of the prince left the prince’s body and entered the body of the cobbler, taking with it all of its ‘princely thoughts’ and pushing out the cobbler’s soul? Locke concludes it is the prince who survives this transformation. A modern version of this scenario is to imagine two men are in an accident, let’s call them Peter and Paul. Peter’s body has been so damaged it has completely shut down but his brain remains intact. Paul’s brain is dead but his body is, miraculously, unscathed. Doctors manage to put together Peter’s brain and Paul’s body. Which person could be said to have survived this transaction? Most of us believe that it is Peter as his thoughts, memories and reason continue to exist; they are simply encased in a new physical frame.

Of course, our physical bodies do contribute to our sense of identity (which we’ll explore more in the next chapter), but most of us tend to agree with Locke that our minds play the truly essential role. What are we to make, then, of the emergence of technology in the twenty-first century that can enhance our minds and our intelligence, from artificial intelligence assistants to devices that can interact directly with our brain? If it is our minds that form the core of our personal identity, what impact could this kind of mind-altering technology have on who we are?

Take, for example, the world of work. Once upon a time, the job we did formed a fundamental part of our identity, forged by the physical tasks that we carried out and the labour skills for which we gained a reputation. It was so fundamental, in fact, that we literally took to identifying ourselves by our occupation. Works like Charles Wareing Bardsley’s Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1901) contain a whole category of such names. The one that caught my attention first was Napier or ‘keeper of the table linen’ (one of the below-stairs roles required in a traditional aristocratic household): it was my great grandmother’s maiden name and, as is Scottish tradition, it became her daughter’s middle name and has been passed down through the family so that it is now one of my own forenames. The dictionary gives plenty of other examples too: Butcher, Butler, Carver, Chamberlain, Cooper, Ewer, Falconer, Farmer, Hunter, Smith, Spencer, Woodward, the list goes on.

Today, while all of these names remain in circulation, many of their associated occupations have become obsolete – evidence of how much social and technological change we have seen over the past few centuries.

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