Authors, philosophers, and scientists convened on Saturday at 11:30AM in Hyatt Embassy AB, to unravel (or perhaps further entangle?) the intoxicating potion that is philosophy melded with science fiction. Moderator Shami A. Stovall, with panelists Jotham R. Austin, II; Jeffrey Falcon Logue, Wil McCarthy, and Alison Tracy, began with a homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “The Measure of a Man,” considering the distinction between humans and another sentient beings and when that difference might be abused. McCarthy suggested such stories present ethical inquiries examining both immortality and agelessness as a separate construct. 

The conversation diverged into a discussion of when scientific progress changes whether a person remains human after characteristics considered immutable previously are subject to alteration. After all, parts have been replaced like the “Ship of Theseus” thought experiment? Following multiple transporter trips that might err in reassembling a human’s molecules? In the case of cloning, does the clone differ from the DNA donor to the point that it is a separate being? 

The panel also considered the ethics of saving one human versus a species or an ecology. Is it more correct to allow one human to die than all the fish? How would you vote? 

Tracy suggested comparing the future worlds of Brave New World and 1984 and whether one individual could effectively challenge political reality. Logue started with Descartes’s thesis, “I think therefore I am,” and prompted what effect others’ opinions might have on your status as a sentient being.