The ethics of shells

[Kath]

The Shellperson universe is pretty technologically advanced, and in it Anne provides a solution to a problem existing today - how to save the lives of babies who wouldn't otherwise survive - and also creates some amazingly good stories.

But I'm going to move away from the usual vagaries of Anne's worldbuilding with a question. If they're that technologically advanced (and advancing further all the time), will the shell program ever die out?

Would there be commercial pressure to keep it running because shell people are so economically important, quashing research that might allow them to live unshelled lives?

Or, is it unethical to do that research in the first place - if a potential shell person dies while the researchers are trying to help them live unshelled, is that wrong? Would that type of research have stalled completely because it's unethical to risk losing the life of someone who could live happily for hundreds of years in a shell?

How much pressure would come from the contented shell population themselves, that no research along those lines is necessary? (And doesn't that make an interesting comparison to the portion of the deaf community who want to ensure deaf children or refuse cochlean implants for them?)

What other ethical problems does the shell population face?


Discuss. ;)

[C_ris]

Ethical minefield!

[Lessaruatha]

You're not kidding! I wouldn't even know where to start

[Kath]

I'm thinking that Tia's progress with artificial bodies may have made a BIG change. They were pretty pricey to manufacture in The Ship Who Searched but I'd have a hard time believing that Moore's Law wouldn't exist in the Ship-universe - give it a generation and everyone would have one!

Eventually, a basic body would almost certainly be far, far cheaper than the current design of ship - could the shell program justify indoctrinating the youngsters into running a ship or a static facility when they could just as easily live the life of a soft shell, and far more cheaply too? You'd have the anti-slavery lobby on one side clamouring to give all the kids artificial bodies a.s.a.p., the industrial factions panicing over the loss of a crucial part of their workforce, and the shell people themselves stuck in the middle - probably quite happy with their multi-functional lives and capabilities, but rather innocent of both the scope of the indentured life they'd have in service, or the limitations of a simple body.

Alternatively, alternate bodies may become so popular that 'shell-studies' gets onto the school curriculum. What's to stop an able softshell kid from starting with a spare body and working up to a full brainship - and potentially being their own brawn as well? Would that leave the shell people out of a job, and would they get possessive over their 'guild', as it were, and take industrial action?

[granath]

Certainly very interesting questions to ponder. I wouldn't begin to have an answer. They could help ease the problem by ensuring sufficiently thorough brainwashing to enable adults who become quadriplegics through accident to adapt to life in the shell. This might prove easier if they knew there were soft-shell bodies available.

[Brenda]

Don't forget there's a limited range on the bodies - the bodies only work with the hookups of a full shellperson. And used a lot of power - Tia's ship was down to almost no power on her test run. Yes, it was a prototype, but I imagine the issues would remain significant.

[Kath]

... but I'd have a hard time believing that Moore's Law wouldn't exist in the Ship-universe - give it a generation and everyone would have one!

Don't forget there's a limited range on the bodies - the bodies only work with the hookups of a full shellperson. And used a lot of power - Tia's ship was down to almost no power on her test run. Yes, it was a prototype, but I imagine the issues would remain significant.

You obviously missed my point about Moore's Law.... ;) Very significant at first, but it'd be seriously unrealistic for things to remain that way.

[edith]

The main problem would be abuse of these ethics.
There was an article on the radio this morning about euthanasia and I could see at least half a dozen ways that it could be abused.
With the shell person thing, I think that for the very young who have to be shelled or die, the issue will be that of what to do with themselves afterwards, whether to sit in a ship or a city or, when bodies become easier to make and use, working in situations where a body is needed for a delicate or complex job in a dangerous environment.

For the older, as the "half shells" in SWSearched become more developed, the issue would be in whether to be shelled or to use a set of legs etc like the Doctor Kenny character.

[granath]

Of course, we're already halfway there, with amputees being fitted with bionic limbs, with direct connections to the brain. She got it wrong with the brainstem, since the connections are made to the motor (and sensory) cortex directly. But we're getting there. So these issues, while theoretical at present, may not be that way 50 years from now.

[Brenda]

Kath, I didn't miss that - I was just pointing out what the two main obstacles to overcome would be, other than pure expense.