# Self-Directed Evolution **Domain:** Evolution / Human Enhancement / Technology Ethics **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developing ## Definition **Self-directed evolution** names the proposal that people could influence inherited human traits intentionally, rather than leaving every change to mutation, natural selection, and drift. It is a prospective program and a family of arguments, not a single technique or an accomplished ability to specify a person's future traits. ## Distinct Routes [[wiki/Embryo Selection|Embryo selection]] chooses among embryos that already exist; it does not edit an embryo or guarantee a complex outcome. [[wiki/Selected Reproduction|Selected reproduction]] includes choices about reproductive partners and assisted reproduction. Genetic engineering or germline editing would instead alter inherited sequence. Education, culture, and technological augmentation also change human capacities, but they need not alter the germline. These routes have different mechanisms, evidentiary limits, governance questions, and effects on the autonomy of future people. In his 1996 “Life in the Universe” lecture, [[wiki/Stephen Hawking|Stephen Hawking]] contrasted the pace of Darwinian change with emerging threats and envisioned deliberate DNA modification. He immediately distinguished relatively tractable single-gene conditions from intelligence and other complex traits. In a PBS interview for *Making Babies*, [[wiki/Lee Silver|Lee Silver]] predicted human control over evolution while also describing unpredictable outcomes and unequal access. [[wiki/Riccardo Campa|Riccardo Campa]] framed self-directed evolution as a transhumanist aspiration in a 2009 essay. These are three related positions, not proof of a shared program or of technical success. [[wiki/John Harris|John Harris]] gives the branch a distinct normative proposition. His 2007 *New Humanist* essay argues that beneficial genetic enhancement could be a moral duty; whether a proposed intervention works and whether it should be pursued are separate questions. His argument should not be flattened into Hawking's forecast, Campa's movement definition, or Silver's ambivalent prediction. ## Boundaries The history of [[wiki/Eugenics|eugenics]] includes coercive state and institutional programs. Contemporary arguments about parental liberty, future-child welfare, access, and enhancement cannot be collapsed into that history, but neither does renaming the program resolve questions of coercion, inequality, disability, or consent. Historical description, philosophical advocacy, present clinical capability, and forecasts should remain separately attributed. ## Relationships - **Historically framed by:** [[wiki/Stephen Hawking|Stephen Hawking]] discussed the tempo and technological possibility of self-design in a 1996 lecture. - **Predicted by, with stated ambivalence:** [[wiki/Lee Silver|Lee Silver]] addressed reproductive technologies, uncertainty, and access in his PBS interview. - **Advocated as a movement goal by:** [[wiki/Riccardo Campa|Riccardo Campa]] summarized a transhumanist orientation in his 2009 essay; [[wiki/Transhumanism|Transhumanism]] is the wider philosophical context. - **Argued as an ethical duty by:** [[wiki/John Harris|John Harris]] defended beneficial enhancement in 2007; his normative position does not establish clinical feasibility for complex traits. - **Mechanistically distinct from:** [[wiki/Embryo Selection|Embryo Selection]] and [[wiki/Selected Reproduction|Selected Reproduction]] are ways of choosing among existing possibilities, not equivalent to reliable genetic redesign. - **Historical and ethical boundary:** [[wiki/Eugenics|Eugenics]] carries a documented coercive history that must not be erased or automatically imputed to every later proposal. - **Collection and article routes:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]], and [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] situate the human and machine evolutionary trajectories without treating them as identical. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "There is no time, to wait for Darwinian evolution, to make us more intelligent, and better natured." > **— Stephen Hawking**, *“Life in the Universe” lecture, 1996* [[reminders/Evolution/We Cannot Wait for Darwinian Evolution by Stephen Hawking|We Cannot Wait for Darwinian Evolution by Stephen Hawking]] > "But we're going to control our evolution. Not nature. Not the environment. We are going to control the evolution of our species." > **— Lee Silver**, *PBS FRONTLINE, “Making Babies” interview* [[reminders/Evolution/We Will Control the Evolution of Our Species by Lee Silver|We Will Control the Evolution of Our Species by Lee Silver]] > "... it is possible and desirable to switch from blind evolution to self-directed, self-conscious evolution." > **— Riccardo Campa**, *“Transhumanism and Epistemology,” 2009* [[reminders/Evolution/Transhumanism Calls for Self-Directed Evolution by Riccardo Campa|Transhumanism Calls for Self-Directed Evolution by Riccardo Campa]] > “... I argue that it is not only feasible to use genetic technology to make people more healthy, intelligent and longer-lived, it’s our moral duty to do so.” > **— John Harris**, *“Getting better all the time,” New Humanist, November 5, 2007* [[reminders/Evolution/Genetic Enhancement Is a Moral Duty by John Harris|Genetic Enhancement Is a Moral Duty by John Harris]] > “But we are now entering a new phase, of what might be called, self designed evolution, in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA.” > **— Stephen Hawking**, *“Life in the Universe” lecture* [[reminders/Evolution/We Can Start Designing Our Own Evolution by Stephen Hawking|We Can Start Designing Our Own Evolution by Stephen Hawking]] > “The change I expect to see that will most affect human existence will come from biohacking: purposefully altering genomes, tissue engineering, and other advances in biology. Humans are haphazardly assembled biological machines. Our DNA was written by monkeys banging away at... not typewriters, but each other, for millions of years. Imagine how quickly life will transform when DNA and biochemistry are altered with thoughtful intent.” > **— Antony Garrett Lisi**, *“Changes in the Changers,” Edge Annual Question, 2009* [[reminders/Evolution/Deliberate Biohacking Could Transform Human Life by Antony Garrett Lisi|Deliberate Biohacking Could Transform Human Life by Antony Garrett Lisi]] ## Sources / Provenance - [Stephen Hawking Estate, “Life in the Universe” (1996)](https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/lectures/life-in-the-universe) — lecture transcript; technological forecast, including express limits for complex traits. - [PBS FRONTLINE, Lee Silver interview for “Making Babies”](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fertility/interviews/silver.html) — interview wording, reservations, and social-access context. - [Riccardo Campa, “Transhumanism and Epistemology,” *Swissfuture* 2 (2009), pp. 18–22](https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/bitstreams/e9b016a3-895d-4471-84c8-111cee1ceb4d) — manifesto-derived formulation presented as a philosophical proposal. - [John Harris, “Getting better all the time,” *New Humanist* (2007)](https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/getting-better-all-the-time/) — authored normative argument about beneficial enhancement.