This Article is a summary of A Theory of Knowledge Presentation on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision on Caster Semenya vs. The IAAF.
Introduction
Women with a disease that gives them too much testosterone, hyperandrogenism, have been banned by the IAAF, the track and field governing body. The question of gender has always been really important in track and field, with some women having more testosterone and more physical abilities the IAAF deemed it unfair to let them compete against "regular" women. Some of these women with the disease have broken records and deemed champions in their events.
Ergogenic aids are any substance, experience, or phenomena that affects human performance. The most common ergogenic aid is caffeine, for some people really helps them perform better. Some more things that are ergogenic aids are Adderall, steroids, elevation and resistance training, even vitamin supplements. These developments usually help humans perform and may be a way for humans to reach new heights. However, many of these are banned in competitions. Ergogenic aids have many bioethical implications and access to such aids is based off many factors like biology, economic status, and even geographical location.
The Question at Hand:
To what extent can biological advantages and personal privileges alter the perception of a true human performance?
It is important to consider two things:
Should physiological advantages be considered the same as cheating in athletics.
How can competition be equal and only depend on hard work, if everyone has privileges and disadvantages.
In other words, when you think about how far the human body can go, mentally and physically, is this statement going to be true for everyone. If Usain Bolt can run the fastest 100m ever is it because he has a biological advantage or works and trains hard. Could everyone get an 1600 on the SAT with good study habits or only those who have the privilege of study programs and/or a high IQ genetically. This knowledge question dives into the realm of how far can humans go before it is not really human.
Caster Semanya has a biological advantage in the 800m, according to the IAAFs study, this has deemed her unworthy of competing against women who do not have this biological advantage. However, many athletes have much more funding for training, equipment, research, and coaching, this is by definition an ergogenic aid that will help an athlete perform better, so shouldn't the economic playing field be leveled. The IAAF’s main argument is they want all athletes to be defined by their hard work and dedication to Track and Field not any special advantages, but how can they do so when so many athletes are more privileged than the next. My presentation will dive into the many views of how privileges based on gender, economic status, race, and genes affect how we perceive true human performance.
History & Human Science Perspective
The first perspective on the idea at hand is a combination of Lea Winerman opinion article from the APA and excerpts from James Flynn’s book Are We Getting Smarter? Rising IQ in the Twenty-First Century. If you were to look at the best scores in the first SAT, or the best inventions, or the fastest times in running in the 1920s none of these would even compare to what we have today. As time progresses so does human physical and mental performance. Over the past century, the average IQ in industrialized countries has risen to keep pace with the complexity of modern life.1 Has human performance and capabilities increased or is there an increase in widespread education or education exposure. The IQ test is a measure of human mental capabilities and general intelligence. IQ has increased greatly over the years and even the article says “It's like qualifying for the Olympic high jump: You might be able to do it easily by the standards of 20 years ago, but not by the standards of today.” standards of human performance are changing and it may because of biological evolution or because of the betterment of human experience and technology. Human experience meaning quality of life. Studies show that we could all be capable of training to do certain things but obviously we all do not train our brains the same way. One of these is in the case of the enlarged hippocampi of taxi drivers2, a classic psych experiment that proved we can train our brain. So when looking into human sciences, how can we define human performance? The Scientific American article states that “we live in a time that poses a wider range of cognitive problems than our ancestors encountered, and that have we have developed new cognitive skills and the kind of brain that can deal with these problems?” It's simple evolution but goes a long way when looking at how we can measure human performance. Overall the perspective of human mental performance increasing through history proves that biological and other changing factors over time have formed a new way of measuring human performance.
Life sciences and Biology Perspective
If you have ever wondered why Usain Bolt can run so fast it is not because he eats his wheaties or has different muscles than you or me, it is a combination of training, hard work, and a little bit of good genes. The following is a physiological analysis of how Usain bolt’s, and anyone else's genes can affect their speed from David Rhodes BBC article. The speed of Usain Bolt is thanks to his contact time3, according to every minute statistic done on every race he has ever run, the amount of strides he takes and how much power he puts out and gives back with each stride is what makes him faster. He may not be the strongest man in the world but he has the best pure and accelerative speed because of his training and a little bit of genes. Usain bolt’s stride is thanks to his height at 6’ 5” he stands 10 inches taller than the average american. This advantage with of course a passion for the sport and dedication to training has helped him achieve his great feats. But, could you run as fast as usain bolt? Obviously females are at a disadvantage because we do not possess the same hormones and make up as a male, but no other man can run like usain bolt. This brings into the idea can every human run a 9.58 100m, or just bolt given his biology and his human experience of dedication and passion.
An Ethical Perspective
The following perspective is from Andy Miah’s 2004 Book Genetically Modified Athletes: Biomedical Ethics, Gene Doping and Sport.6 Gene editing is the biggest ethical debate currently. If humans were to edit the genome to make it smarter, faster, and stronger, would the limits that a “super gene” human can reach be real human limits. Miah discusses how some believe that gene therapy is conceivable and that “elite sport is all about finding innovative ways of enhancing performance.” However, Miah discusses the more common route of bioethicists, that gene doping wrong. Some of the arguments include that gene therapy is so new no one knows all of the negative effects. Dr. Colin Moran a MSB Lecturer in Health and Exercise Sciences from University of Stirling, Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence has released a conversational report about gene therapy and the 2016 Río Olympians. He states how humans with enhanced EPO, a gene that increases hemoglobin in their blood, will have higher aerobic capacity than those who don't dope. But, the advances in gene therapy especially in EPO gene doping are dangerous for the athletes. Some bodies will not accept the form of gene doping used now and become ill, for EPO there is a high chance of blood clots and strokes. As well, Miah mentions that the reaction of parents and spectators when finding out the athletes are not real “humans”, could cause an outrage. He discusses how little parents will ever want their children to be gene edited and not there “own” genes. But, given the climate of youth sports today, this seems to be becoming less true. In 2003, the WADA banned any gene therapy used to enhance performance in athletes, and now since technology has advanced WADA in jan of 2018 banned not only gene therapy but gene editing.5 Overall, these crazy technologies are changing the way athletes could be playing and could prove to be unfair to those who are not super humans.
A Consideration of Ways of Knowing Truth
Reason is the main way that we can know that human performance is real. When deciding, it is important to either use deductive or inductive reasoning, but no matter what there must be plenty of evidence. Since this given KQ is very scientific at its core I think reason is very important to use when discussing human performance. Language as well is extremely important in human performance. As we are all humans, but all so different, how we communicate is how we can tell different measurements of records or average scores of performance. Language can also play into how we know all the rules and guidelines of human performance measurement. As well, language is how we can communicate findings in biological effects and environmental effects on performance
Conclusion
I believe that the perception of true human performance is completely altered by biology and personal experience. I believe a true human performance is defined by a human with natural genes that are unmodified by humans and any human experience, which may be used to gain advantages over genetic predisposition. Nature and nurture will always define our performance and those born with more advantages can use those to help us grow and enhance our understanding of the limits of humans. Our performance in life is shaped by our biology, genes, life experiences, parental influences, our personalities, and so much more. Defining the ultimate human performances at a level playing field is impossible. Too much goes into our capabilities to create equity in broad scale performance. In the case of the IAAF, they hope to create more and more equality by adding more rules when it comes to biology. But, as many studies show their is a lot more to an athlete then their hormones.
Caster Semanya is one of those who are born with an enhanced advantage and is pushing the limits of female athletes. Her races are true human performance and are a combination of her genes and hard work, just like Michael phelps, Usain bolt and Michael jordan. Her times are not even all time bests with a Czech athlete running 1 second faster in the 80s. She and all the other athletes out their approved by WADA are racing to be the best human performance and each of them have different genes, training plans, homes, and experiences.
A Counterclaim
While her high testosterone levels may scientifically enhance her athletic abilities, I find it as no different than the many other factors contributing to all human performances. As well by forcing her to take testosterone lowering steroids, it is could become unethical to force an athlete to alter their natural body functions.
Similar Situations
Here is a real life situation that we all have thought of, but never probably considered to be scientific: Beautiful people have a scientific advantage in life. There genetic advantage can help them succeed better in politics, sales, and executive positions. As well they are more likely to find a mate and reproduce...that's just science. However, people who are not attractive can still pursue any career they want and succeed as well with hard work. People from all backgrounds with all disadvantages are still able to overcome.
Closing Ideas
Next time you are playing a game of sports or taking a test and are worried about what everyone else is doing and how well you are doing, remember that a lot of it is out of your control. With hard work, a lot of things are achievable but each person's biological, psychological, and physiological advantages creates a different type of performance for every person. When looking at the highest human performances of any standard, the people that achieve the highest feats do so with a combination of many things, and not every person can do the same or we would not be human.
Work Cited
Spector, D. (2013, June) 8 Scientifically Proven Reasons Life Is Better If You're Beautiful.
https://www.businessinsider.com/studies-show-the-advantages-of-being-beautiful-2013-6
Flynn, J.R. (2012, September) How We Know That Humans Are Getting Smarter [Excerpt].
Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-we-know-humans-getting-smarter-flynn-excerpt/
Rhodes, D. (2015, August). How does Usain Bolt run so fast? Retrieved from
Masci, D. (2016, July). Human Enhancement. Retrieved from
Busca, N. (April, 2018). The new frontier of doping will modify athletes' DNA. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/13/health/athletes-gene-editing-doping-sport-intl/index.html
Andy Miah, editor. ISBN: 0-415-29880-6(pbk)/0-415-29879-2 (hbk). Routledge, an imprint of
Taylor & Francis Books Lt. July 2004. 232 pages. £23.99/£65.00. paperback/hardcover.
Winerman, L. (2013, March) Smarter than ever? Retrieved from
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