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Democs Game on HUMAN ENHANCEMENT |
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What is a Democs
game?
Democs is a conversation card game, a group discussion method based around cards. Players get hands of cards and take turns to play them. But instead of playing to win, they are playing to learn about an important new issue - in this case it’s human enhancement - and form their opinions about it. At the end of the game, the players will get to vote on policy options. The kit is made up of several different types of cards. Most have information, ideas or stories about the topic. It was first devised by the New Economics Foundation (nef) in 2001, and has been widely used for many different issues. Democs is designed to be played anywhere, by anyone. All you need is a kit, about six to eight people (though you can play with more or less), a table and an hour and a half to two hours. You don’t need to know anything about the topic to run a game and the rules are simple and easy to understand. This Democs game has been created as part of a European Commission research project called ETHENTECH, specifically to ask members of the public like you what you think about human enhancement. Your responses, and those of many other players across Europe, will help us produce a report to the European Commission about public as well as expert views on enhancement, and whether regulations might be needed. |
Human Enhancement Democs GameDo you want to Play the Game?
Human enhancement raises many issues about whatare the limits (if any) to being human; is there a difference between using tools outside the body (like a computer) and, say, implanting a chip in our brain? Or between repairing the body and enhancing it? What about risks? Who would get access to these new abilities? Is this a matter of individual choiceor should society regulate it? And much more. If you would like to explore these issues and have a group of friends, neighbours, family or workmates who'd like to have a go, why not send off for a copy of the game? It comes in a small box, with all the cards and full instructions. And it's free, as part of the EC research project. If you want to get a better idea what this is all about, just download the Instructions and read for yourself. Download : Alternatively, you might like to download the whole game from this website, and print it out for yourself. In that case you will need to download the following 7 files : Instructions
Religious VersionWe also have a version of the game with some Issue Cards designed specifically for religious groups of any faith tradition to explore the religious dimensions more easily. If you want this version then download this file instead of 'Issue Cards' : Religious Issue cards Extra Cluster Cards and Voting Grids?If you have already played the game and want to play it again with another group of people, you will need new Cluster Cards and Voting Grids. You can Download them here: You might like to see our other pages for more about Human Enhancement. |
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