Heroes
Heroes Season 1, 2, 3, 4
The popular American TV series Heroes follows the life of ordinary individuals who soon discover their “superhuman” abilities. Of course, the idea of a superhero is popular on the screen and in books. Heroes reflects some of this “superhero” ethos, but also portrays some of current ethical discussions. For example, Dr. Suresh, who desires to become a “hero,” pursues medical research in order to find a way to enhance himself. He soon realizes that he fails to find the perfect formula and his personality changes drastically. Thus, not only his identity changes as he fails to become “authentic,” he also put himself and others in danger. Another issue raised is that of “coercion and social pressure.” A gap grows between the “unenhanced” population and our heroes. Society are not ready to be invaded by them, thus they are hunted and have to hide. I suppose, in the neuroethical debate, this might be a bit of a surprise. One could easily thinks that people with more abilities will be the ones that oppress the “weak.” However, in the shows, they are still a minority, unable to take over the world. But we can probably expect a change of event, as natural selection will soon transform all of us into Heroes.