--- title: What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain? description: We could become superhuman canonical: https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/ author: Rosalie Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-22T17:16:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:50:09.299Z article:section: Health og:title: What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain? og:description: We could become superhuman og:url: https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain? twitter:description: We could become superhuman twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain? by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jun 22, 2016 5:16 PM CUT by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jun 22, 2016 5:16 PM CUT Modern science can enhance your alertness, athletic performance, sex drive, health—and even your mind. [“Cognitive enhancement” drugs](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869435,00.html?iid=sr-link4 "undefined"), also known as “smart pills” can boost attention or memory. However, there’s an ethical debate about human enhancement and its impacts. Some opponents say human enhancements are unfair and not accessible to everyone, others say humans should not “[meddle with nature](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1921027,00.html?iid=sr-link1 "undefined").” In this poll ahead of the World Economic Forum in China, TIME asks key questions about the impact of human enhancements that would change the way you live your life. The results of the poll will be presented during a panel hosted by TIME editor Matt Vella in Tianjin, China, on June 26. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/"},"headline":"What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain?","datePublished":"2016-06-22T17:16:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:09.299Z","description":"We could become superhuman","url":"https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/","keywords":["Tech","Living","medicine","Viewpoint"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4376371/cognitive-enhancement-wef/","name":"What Would You Do If You Could Enhance Your Brain?"}}]}] ```