Institute For The Future

Enablement

I read something from Zach Lynch the other day and I am thinking about whether his idea can be applied beyond his neurocentric framework.

 

He injects the terms "enablement" between treatment (or therapy) and enhancement. He describes it as "an area where you could develop tools that would allow you to enhance or improve particular traits up to the point where that trait is seen in the general population of humanity. Now steroids is a classic example of enhancement, that’s moving far beyond the natural capacity that’s seen in a human whereas the tools that would be encompassed within the term enablement would not."

 

He notes that distinguishing the line between therapy and enhancement is difficult "What is normal?" He uses this graph to illustrate his idea, again in terms of neuroscience.

 

 

My understanding is that the term "enablement" is used today in the context of disabilities and access issues. I am wondering if there is a way to talk about it more broadly, in terms of improving quality of life, whether someone is labeled as having a disability or not. It may also be tricky to distinguish it from treatment, I think.

 

I'll come back with a couple of examples, perhaps. Let me know what you think.