NINGEN

Ningen Neuroethics Co-Lab is the first strategy and consulting firm to specialize in neurotech ethics.

At Ningen Neuroethics Co-Lab, we’re inspired by ambitious tech innovation projects that aim to be ethically bold and globally impactful. We also recognize that cutting edge science needs cutting edge ethics. Ningen specializes in neuroethics, tracking and forecasting the landscape of unique implications of neuroscience for human self-understanding, ethics, and policy. As a neurotech ethics consultancy, we can serve as interpreters and guides as you navigate some of the most complex and thorny issues in neuroinnovation. We can also show you how to integrate values-sensitive, ethical design thinking into your neurotech R&D.

Today’s neuroinnovation leaders are not satisfied with only keeping an eye on the “bottom line”. They have vision and want to be transformative and societally impactful (frankly, so do their employees and clients). We have problems that we needed solved yesterday and no one has time to waste. With Ningen, neuroethics is not about putting up roadblocks or slowing neuroscience; neuroethics is about advancing and accelerating science that will benefit humanity. We help co-create neuroethics strategies that can proactively set a course to ensure your work has the most positive and powerful societal impact. We bridge the gap between the current state of the art to your ultimate scientific vision.

What is ningen 人間?

As a guiding principle, we put humanity at the center of our tech ethics work. Ningen 人間 directly translates to “human beings,” yet has a more expansive meaning than that. The two Japanese characters represent two humans (人) leaning against one another, followed by the character 間 which is a gate (門) with the sun (日) shining through. Together ningen is a foundational term in the ethics writings of WATSUJI Tetsuro that illustrates how our humanity exists in the relationships we have between us (between persons and between persons and technologies that bridge the spaces between us). We can find that light and humanity by working together.

How will we work together?

Trust and humility are foundational to our work. That’s why we use a collaboratory model. A collaboratory is an open space, without walls where groups of people can co-create solutions to complex problems. Collaboratory work is experimental, empirically-driven and creative. At Ningen, we’re adept at gathering input from a rich combination of stakeholders, allowing knowledge sharing of diverse perspectives, expertise, and personal backgrounds. By leveraging an inclusive ethos, Ningen aims to ultimately advance thinking, learning, and analysis to identify gaps and bridge ideas that enable the most robust goals, strategies, and solutions for neurotech innovation. We help you by systematically offering a neuroethical reality check, helping to co-create a neuroethics strategy, and empowering you and your team with neuroethical imagination. Now, let’s build some bridges together.