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C00002 00002	THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL
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THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL


	In this section, I would like to explore the possiblities  of
increasing  the  capabilities of individuals.  We shall consider both
the provision of new tools and improvements in physiology.

	Why is it not possible for one person to do the following?:

	1.  Build a ten story building, a sophisticated jet airplane,
a car, or a large computer all by himself.

	2.  Convince the government to adopt a good new policy simply
by having good arguments  for  the  new  policy  without  having  any
political position or even political ability.

	3. Climb Mount Everest or walk across the Arctic alone.

	4. Swim the Atlantic.

	5. Live 500 years.

	6. Run 25 miles to work in the morning in an hour and back in
the afternoon without being especially tired.

	7. Have the information in the Library of Congress as readily
available at any time as if one remembered it.

	8.  Get  agreement  on  the  solution  to  social problems as
readily as agreement on engineering problems.

	It seems to me that any of these things would be  worthwhile,
and maybe all of them are possible. That they are worthwhile seems to
me  evident,  but  experience  shows  that  many  people   can   find
disadvantages  in anything.  Therefore, I shall go through the entire
list, saying somewhat pedantically why each one seems worthwhile, and
also how it may be possible.

	1. Build a large building or airplane or computer alone.
Of course, when and if this becomes feasible, some people will want
to do it, and that's certainly some justification.  However, there's
another important reason.  The best innovations are the work of
single brains.  When a job is too big to be done by one person,
it must take longer and lose some unity of conception.  The person
who proposes the idea must have leadership, salesmanship and political
abilities as well as industrial, scientific or artistic creativity.
Much has been lost because creative people often lack these other
abilities to the required degree.  When projects end up in the hands
of salesmen or politicians, much is lost even in the best circumstances.
  Therefore,
making it possible for one person to do jobs ordinarily requiring
large organizations is important.  How can we make it feasible?

	There is computer-aided design, robotics and the availability
of services.  The last item requires explanation.  If you want to build
something out of concrete, you have to build the forms.  However, pouring
the concrete is accomplished by telephoning the concrete company, and
they send a truckload of concrete in a transit-mix truck and pour it
into your forms.  If you are satisfied with the kinds of concrete
commercially available, you don't have much organizational work to do.
All you need is money.  The situation is similar with printed circuit
boards for computers and even-custom built integrated circuits.  In
either case you need only send a company specializing in this work,
a magnetic tape containing the design information.  All you need besides
money is a computer-aided design system capable of producing output
suitable for controlling their machines.