Summary of Prevail and Transcend Scenario In chapter six of Radical Evolution, author Joel Garreau shows through various interviews and examples that even though technology may be rising on an exponentially increasing Curve, humans may still be able to change the effects of technological advance in unpredictable ways. Deemed the Prevail scenario, it is also characterized by humans slowing down once-viewed inevitable change viewed as negative and speeding up positive change. Another great theme of the Prevail Scenario is its idea that technological advance will enable humans to acquire a better understanding of their society and nature. In addition to discussing the Prevail scenario, Garreau also discusses the possible change humans
To gain insight on this topic, Garreau interviewed Gregory E. Pence, a professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama. Pence explains to Garreau that in order for technological enhancement to be successful, its use must be voluntary, for fear that government control of these technologies could create a form of eugenics. To add to this thought, Lee M. Silver, professor of molecular biology at Princeton, noted that life was unfair. He explained that some people, such as athletes, are just born with better genes which give them their enhanced abilities. Though Bostrom also agrees that such inequalities occur, he also notes that there may not be civil strife because of it. To show his ideas of the workings of civil tranquility, Bostrom observes that “The reason we don’t have tall people conspiring against little people, or vice versa, is that there is no obvious cutoff point, and it’s just one continuum living in the same world” (qtd. in Garreau, 245). So, Bostrom’s discussion suggests that even though technological advancement may create some inequality in society, there would be many stages of enhancement, making the gap between the Enhanced and the Rest closed. To further elucidate on Bostrom’s views, Christine L. Peterson, president of the Foresight Institute, says that “The analogy is to entities more powerful than humans, like government and corporations. We come up with checks and