Why Being Human Matters

Discovery Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith offers a lecture on what it means to be human. Mr. Smith is Discovery’s most active contributor to bioethics. A prolific author, activist, and former Ralph Nader co-author, he has become one of the nation’s leading advocates for the value and sanctity of human life.

His most recent book, Consumer’s Guide to the Brave New World presents a clear-eyed vision of two potential futures: In the first, biotechnology will be a powerful tool to treat disease and improve the quality of our lives. But in another, darker scenario, we will be steered onto the path that Aldous Huxley and other prophetic writers first warned against fifty year ago, before science fiction became science fact. Two of his other books, Forced Exit and Culture of Death, examined assisted suicide and the biomedical industry respectively. Mr. Smith is currently working on a book critiquing the radical animal rights movement. At the same time, he maintains an active schedule as a public speaker, while publishing several related stories and editorials per month, and blogging daily at Secondhand Smoke.

This event is part of Discovery’s McNaughton Fellows Lecture Series. The event will be held Thursday, August 16 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m