EB #26: Redefining “Health”: CBHD Summer Conference
Record Date: 7 July 2010Air date: 13 July 2010
Redefining “HealtH”: CBHd SummeR ConfeRenCe
“This is interesting stuff, but it doesn’t relate to anything in my life.”
“I’m a doctor. I need help on issues that come up in my practice.”
These are a couple of reasons people give for not coming to The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity’s summer
conference this weekend. Our theme is “Beyond Therapy: Exploring Enhancement and Human Futures.” Perhaps you’ve
read the statement about our conference, which explores the way that “scientific discoveries and technological innovations
are transforming the nature of biomedicine and revolutionizing the expectations for biotechnology.”
“Oh,” you might say, “that’s way too technical for me.” It doesn’t have to be. Let me unpack what this conference means for
you, me and the people we care about.
There is a massive change going on, a redefinition of “health.” If you think that health means getting your immunizations,
washing your hands, and having your checkup, mammogram, and colonoscopy, you’re living in the past. If you think that
the doctor’s therapeutic role is to dispense antibiotics, set broken bones, and remove diseased gall bladders, you’re only
partly correct. The World Health Organization has defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-
being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” For the sake of “complete wel -being,” we have medicalized every
As medicine and technology unfold their latest innovations, our expectations rise. We are no longer content with just
feeling better. The “get wel ” card is outdated. We don’t want to be wel . We want to be “better than wel ,” as Carl El iott
What does “better than well” look like? We can fix our personalities with Paxil. We can fix our naturally declining sex drive
with Viagra. We can fix our natural y sagging faces with Botox. The celebrity-induced efforts to postpone the effects of
aging tempt all of us to drink from the same fountain of youth.
Meanwhile, other technologies combine to engineer stronger bodies and smarter minds. These convergence technologies
use the acronym NBIC: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science. Some NBIC
innovators seek to transcend our human biology. There’s a pervasive sense that there is something deficient in our bodies,
in the way God designed us, and we need to use technology to overcome these limitations.
CBHD has a stel ar group of speakers to help us unpack these profound concerns. Dr Bil Hurlbut, a former member of
the President’s Council on Bioethics wil open with a talk on the dignity of our human bodies. Amy Laura Hal from Duke
Divinity School closes with a chal enge on the pursuit of perfect mothers and perfect children. In between, we’l get to
hear about genes and race, living in a digitized world, the dusk of the physician/patient relationship, and Hol ywood’s silver
So, if you’ve ever thought about having a better personality, a better body, or a better brain, this conference is for you. If
your patients have made one of these requests, this conference is for you. Come to the Deerfield, Il inois campus of Trinity
International University, starting Thursday evening, July 15th. To register, visit us at cbhd.org/conference.
For Moody Radio, I’m Paige Cunningham and these are my thoughts on everyday bioethics.
2065 Half Day Road | Deerfield, IL 60015 USA | v 847.317.8180 | f 847.317.8101 | info@cbhd.org | www.cbhd.org
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