Activity-Making+Better+People

**LISTENING ACTIVITY: MAKING BETTER PEOPLE **

Directions: Complete ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES BELOW BY recording your responses in writing.

= **Listening Warmup: Introduction to "Making Better People"** = Listen to the podcast posted below to introduce yourself to this lesson. media type="file" key="introduction to making better people.mp3" width="240" height="20"

= **ACTIVITY #1: "It's Alive, It's Escaped"** = 1. Listen to one of the following Podcasts posted below (Making Memories OR Becoming The Bionic Man) 2. Write a paragraph that includes all of the following: Identify and explain the "It's Alive" element described in the audio piece. Identify and explain the "It's Escaped!" element described in the audio piece. Identify, analyze, and explain a quotation from the novel Frankenstein that connects to the primary concept presented in this podcast.
 * **MAKING MEMORIES WITH A MICROCHIP** || **BECOMING THE BIONIC MAN** ||
 * Ted Berger is trying to build a microchip that can remember things for us. He teaches biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, and his goal is to create a device that can take over for the hippocampus of the brain, translating thoughts into long-term memories. ...media type="file" key="makingmemorieswithamicrochip.mp3" width="240" height="20" || Hugh Herr is a leading bionics developer at MIT and a double amputee following a mountain-climbing accident. Herr has developed legs that allow him to climb better than he could previously.media type="file" key="becomingthebionicman.mp3" width="240" height="20" ||

= **ACTIVITY #2: HUMANS 2.0** = Biotech entrepreneur Greg Stock  tells Kurt Andersen he thinks technology may allow humans to break free of their natural life span. “We are like a dying animal,” he says, “we are stuck to our bodies and yet our minds can soar.” Stock believes therapeutic interventions to treat diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's will inevitably lead to human enhancement. But if we all start living longer lives, what about the risks of overpopulation? “I have a 7 year old daughter, one that happens to be conceived in a petri dish,” he says. “I feel that she is the luckiest girl alive.” media type="file" key="humans 2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3. Identify, analyze, and explain a quotation from the novel Frankenstein that connects to the primary concept presented in this podcast.
 * 1. Listen to the segment titled "Humans 2.0" and respond in writing to the questions posted below.**
 * 2. Do you agree or disagree with Greg Stock's assessments of the dangers of allowing humans to break free of their natural life span? Explain your response. **

= **ACTIVITY #3: THE POSTHUMAN FUTURE** =

media type="file" key="posthumanfuture.mp3" width="240" height="20" Do you agree with the artist, Natasha Vita-More, or with the prominent skeptic of bio-engineered engineered enhancement, William Hurlbut? Justify your response.
 * 1. Listen to the podcast titled "THE POSTHUMAN FUTURE"**
 * 2. Respond to the following question in writing:**

3. Identify, analyze, and explain a quotation from the novel Frankenstein that connects to the primary concept presented in this podcast.