Posthuman Blues

Here's Nick Pope's reply to my review of his book, posted on UFO UpDates.

Mac,

Open Skies, Closed Minds was a difficult book to write. I was still working for the Ministry of Defence, and the book had to be vetted by the Publications Clearance Branch. This process wasn't without its dramas, and I was genuinely surprised by some of the reactions within the Department. Despite having been careful not to include any classified information, I was nonetheless asked to take out a considerable amount of material. Having signed the Official Secrets Act, I naturally complied with the instruction.

The irony was that during the first Gulf War I'd worked as a watchkeeper/briefer in the Air Force Operations Cell in the MOD's Joint Operation Centre, and had myself been involved in vetting books after the war. I was surprised that clearing a book on UFOs proved quite as difficult as proved to be the case, especially given the fact that some books on Special Forces operations seemed less problematic. I try not to be too conspiratorial about all this.

With the above in mind, Open Skies, Closed Minds could only ever be an overview of the phenomenon, with some general information about the British Government's UFO project, and details of a few of the cases I'd investigated.

You mention my views on the alien abduction phenomenon. My views on this have evolved somewhat since I wrote Open Skies, Closed Minds, and I wrote a book called The Uninvited, which concentrated solely on abductions. You may well disagree with some of my conclusions, but I would be interested to hear your views on this book, in due course.


Best wishes,

Nick Pope





This afternoon I started reading Francis Fukuyama's "Our Posthuman Future" in earnest. I had read the first chapter while standing in line to see "The Matrix Reloaded" but had moved on to other things. I appreciate Fukuyama's concerns -- any sane citizen of the biotech century should -- but I can't help but take issue with his philosophical argument. Whereas I think that "human nature" is mutable and subject to redefinition, Fukuyama sees attempts to subvert the status quo via neuroscience and genetic engineering as necessarily dystopian and wrong-headed. But at least he's conerned about the future, which is more than you can say for most people; I could probably have a fun conversation with him.