In our podcast Wait a minute !, we are wondering about our meeting “La Bulle”. Will the Usain Bolt of tomorrow run the 100m in three seconds? And will the Marie Wattel the day after tomorrow swim with an exoskeleton imitating the dolphin? High level athletes, caught up in performance and competition, exercise their bodies, again and again, to support their performance. But, how far? With which so-called augmentation technologies? At the risk of “dehumanization”? These are questions asked by the philosopher Jean-Michel Besnier, who recently published Sport, too fast, too high, too strong? in the Homo Ludens collection
published by Robert Laffont Insep (10 euros).
The efficient body, how far?
Jean-Michel Besnier is a philosopher specializing in cognitive sciences and so-called augmentation technologies. “Reactionary bioconservative”, as he calls himself, he takes a critical look at the technological transformations of our societies. If technologies help humans, especially people with disabilities, where do we put the cursor? How far do our desires for performance and body perfection lead? The temptation is great to replace our “imperfect” bodies with human-machines, or aliases in metaverse projects …
In this episode, Jean-Michel Besnier returns to high-level sport and the greed for performance, before questioning our relationship to augmentation technologies and transhumanism. He calls for an “ethics of human vulnerability”, with our differences, our sensitivities, our strengths and our weaknesses, which make us human.
Wait a minute ! is an original podcast by 20 minutes. You can listen to it on all online listening apps and platforms, like Apple podcast, Spotify, Deezer Where Podcast addict for example. Feel free to rate us and leave a comment on your favorite platform. To write to us: [email protected]