Despite its modern weapons and technology, mankind is still profoundly imperfect. Unfortunately, human evolution has proceeded not through intellectual and moral improvement, but through the search for ways to technically intervene in the system of thinking and motivation in order to "optimise" people, writes Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club Andrey Sushentsov. The publication of this article continues online collaboration between Valdai Club as part of its Think Tank project and the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI)