Can biomedical and cognitive enhancement increase psychological resilience?

Abstract

How have advances in the use of biomedical and cognitive enhancement affected our understanding human resilience? At what point does enhancement facilitate recovery and growth after exposure to adversity, and when is enhancement a manipulation of human potential, causing a redefinition of resilience as something more than a return to normal functioning? In this article we juxtapose theories of enhancement and resilience, exploring how biomedical and cognitive enhancement technologies are influencing our understanding of the limits of human wellbeing in contexts of exposure to atypical stress or challenge. Specifically, we discuss 3 different ways biomedical enhancement can influence psychological and physical resilience: (a) enhancement that builds latent capacity and resources to deal effectively with atypical stressors before exposure to risk, (b) enhancement as intervention which adds to an individual's existing psychological and social resources after exposure to risk, and (c) transhumanism as a means to make individuals even more resilient than they would be without intervention. These 3 areas of focus distinguish enhancement typologies by their temporality and ontological suppositions of what it means to be fully functioning before, during and after exposure to adversity. the article concludes with a discussion of the potential within the biomedical and cognitive enhancement fields to bolster resilience through interventions that exert a positive influence on human biology.