06 Jul 06 Should Smart Shoes Be Banned from Competitive Events?
Thinking of technology and the World Cup, here is another opinionated segment.
I think the concept of absolute fairness is a black hole; a place where common sense is corrupted into political correctness. We do not enforce an even playing field today in competitive sports. For example, some kids have better health care or can afford a better trainer.
The question to my mind regards the impact of these ’smart shoes’. Is there a significant improvement to a runners ability? Does it reduce the chance of injury? In my opinion the point of competition is for human beings to spur themselves to greater heights by comparing their achievements to others. If this is the point and smart shoes measurably improve runner performance then there is a case for them to be banned, the case that this is a competition of humans, not humans and machines.
It is an interesting problem that we have not dealt with on an emotional and ethical level. If we make judgment calls about what counts as unfair and what does not, then we risk losing the objectivity that fairness is built on. If we make blanket statements about not allowing ‘enhanced’ humans compete, how do we deal with the kid that has the aural implant to allow him to hear or the chip in his brain to control epilepsy. This kind of conflict of which science fiction blockbusters are made.
[tags]competition, fairness, techology[/tags]
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