Cosmetic Surgery & Wings
Next week, I will give a paper in Sweden titled 'Designer Steroids, Cosmetic Surgery, & Wings'. The paper will explore a range of modifications and, for now, I am particularly intrigued by the use of surgery for sport performance. So far, I have spoken to a range of doping experts about this and, each time, they are perplexed. The first responses is 'Well, what kind of surgery would an athlete benefit from?'. A couple of weeks ago, I posted something about Tiger Woods and laser-eye surgery, but I am sure there are other examples worth thinking through. So, until I have an answer about this one, I thought I'd through it out there and ask 'Why don't athletes use elective cosmetic surgery to enhance their performance?'
By the way, I will also mention that such modification is NOT banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and I doubt that it could be.
(Maybe this relates a little to a paper I published a couple of years ago: Be Very Afraid: Cyborg Athletes, Transhuman Ideals & Posthumanity, Journal of Evolution & Technology, 2003)
By the way, I will also mention that such modification is NOT banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and I doubt that it could be.
(Maybe this relates a little to a paper I published a couple of years ago: Be Very Afraid: Cyborg Athletes, Transhuman Ideals & Posthumanity, Journal of Evolution & Technology, 2003)
posted by andymiah at 5:24 pm
2 Comments:
I was just thinking about nasal strips in sport, which are frequently used by professional athletes and have also been used by racehorses. Presumably, some sort of elective rhinoplasty could offer even more significant oxygen intake potential.
Why not? Beyond the risk of the surgery, a large part of the potential "payoff" for high-performance athletes involves print or televisual product endorsements. Anything that might compromise one's good looks might also change the equation of said "payoff".
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13562-how-to-transform-your-arm-into-a-wing.html
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