THe 5leeping 6iant: JOURNAL: Is Transhumanism the future of humanity?

As a teenager, I remember heading to the mall every Sunday afternoon to get my weekly fix of Spiderman, the X-men, and all those other great superheroes from the Marvel Universe. Around that same time period, I remember making it a point to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation every night before I went to bed. Well, those days are gone now and although I can't claim I was ever a fanboy or a trekkie, I still enjoy the occasional Marvel/DC movie or science fiction flick. However, until recently, I wrote off most of the ideas found in these types of genres as just the wild imagination of their creators. Lately, my viewpoint has changed. I'm beginning to think that the ideas and realities portrayed in these worlds may be more realistic than I have ever imagined.

Recently, I heard about something called Transhumanism. The more I learned about this the more I thought it sounded like something out of a comic book or a science-fiction movie...until I came across this website. Apparently, this transhumanist movement is a rather serious and intellectually thought out system. In the information that follows, I will be giving you some quotes directly from their website. Some of you may already be familiar with this area of science and others of you may be astonished, as was I, at some of the things that are being researched in the science world as we speak. And of course, if you're interested in learning more about this you can visit the website...or if not, at least you will be aware of the kind of stuff that is being seriously debated in the science community today. So with that being said, let's get to it!

The name of this website is called Humanity+. And of course, just like many websites there is a wealth of information to be gleaned. Now, I admit I haven't thorougly scoured every nook and crannie of this website, but it doesn't matter since I am just trying to provide you with an overview and not an expert review of the subject. Obviously, the best way to learn about a website is to go to the FAQ section, so that's where I went and below I have selected just some of the questions and answers that I thought were interesting.

Q. What is Transhumanism?

A. Transhumanism is a way of thinking about the future...based on the premise that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development...rather a[n]... early phase. We formally define it as... The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities...

Q. What is a Posthuman?

A. ...[P]ossible future beings whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards. The standard word for such beings is “posthuman."...[T]hey yearn to reach intellectual heights as far above any current human genius as humans are above other primates; to be resistant to disease and impervious to aging; to have unlimited youth and vigor; to exercise control over their own desires, moods, and mental states; to be able to avoid feeling tired, hateful, or irritated about petty things; to have an increased capacity for pleasure, love, artistic appreciation, and serenity; to experience novel states of consciousness that current human brains cannot access.

Posthumans could be completely synthetic artificial intelligences, or they could be enhanced uploads...or...be the result of ... profound augmentations to a biological human... using advanced nanotechnology or...some combination of technologies such as genetic engineering, psychopharmacology, anti-aging therapies, neural interfaces, advanced information management tools, memory enhancing drugs, wearable computers, and cognitive techniques.

Some posthumans may find it advantageous to jettison their bodies altogether and live as information patterns on vast super-fast computer networks... [and] might be able to share memories and experiences directly, greatly increasing the efficiency, quality, and modes in which posthumans could communicate with each other.

Q. What is a Transhuman?

A. The etymology of the term “transhuman” goes back to the futurist FM-2030 [ ], who introduced it as shorthand for “transitional human”. Calling transhumans the “earliest manifestation of new evolutionary beings,” FM maintained that signs of transhumanity included prostheses, plastic surgery, intensive use of telecommunications, a cosmopolitan outlook and a globetrotting lifestyle, androgyny, mediated reproduction (such as in vitro fertilization), absence of religious beliefs, and a rejection of traditional family values.

Q. What are the reasons to expect all these changes?

A. The World-Wide Web is beginning to link the world’s people, adding a new global layer to human society where information is supreme. The Human Genome Project has been completed, and the study of the functional roles of our genes (functional genomics) is proceeding rapidly. Techniques for using this genetic information to modify adult organisms or the germ-line are being developed. The performance of computers doubles every 18 months and will approach the computational power of a human brain in the foreseeable future. Pharmaceutical companies are refining drugs that will enable us to regulate mood and aspects of personality with few side effects. Many transhumanist aims can be pursued with present technologies. (emphasis mine)

Q. Won't these developments take thousands or millions of years?

A. The vast majority of transhumanists think that superintelligence and nanotechnology will both be developed in less than a hundred years, and many predict that it will happen well within the first third of this century. (emphasis mine)

Q. How can I use transhumanism in my own life?

A. ...[Y]ou might...find some of the currently available human modification or enhancement options useful. Some of these are commonplace – exercise, healthy diet, relaxation techniques, time management, study skills, information technology, coffee or tea (as stimulants), education, and nutritional supplements (such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, or hormones). Others you might not have thought of, such as getting a cryonic suspension contract [ ], or chewing nicotine gum for its nootropic effects. Still others – for instance pharmacological mood drugs or sex reassignment surgery – are suitable only for people who have special difficulties or needs.

Q. Aren't these future technologies very risky? Could they even cause our extinction?

A. Yes, and this implies an urgent need to analyze the risks before they materialize and to take steps to reduce them. Biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence pose especially serious risks of accidents and abuse.

Q. Is there any ethical standard ...

A. The transhumanist goal is not to replace existing humans with a new breed of super-beings, but rather to give human beings [ ] the option of developing into posthuman persons.

Transhumanists reject speciesism, the (human racist) view that moral status is strongly tied to membership in a particular biological species, in our case homo sapiens. What exactly does determine moral status is a matter of debate. Factors such as being a person, being sentient, having the capacity for autonomous moral choice, or perhaps even being a member of the same community as the evaluator, are among the criteria that may combine to determine the degree of somebody’s moral status [ ]. But transhumanists argue that species-identity should be de-emphasized in this context. Transhumanists insist that all beings that can experience pain have some moral status, and that posthuman persons could have at least the same level of moral status as humans have in their current form.

Q. What kind of society would posthumans live in?

A. The ideal social organization may be one that includes the possibility for those who so wish to form independent societies voluntarily secluded from the rest of the world, in order to pursue traditional ways of life or to experiment with new forms of communal living.

Q. Will posthumans or superintelligent machines pose a threat to humans who aren't augmented?

A. What about the hypothetical case in which someone intends to create, or turn themselves into, a being of so radically enhanced capacities that a single one or a small group of such individuals would be capable of taking over the planet? This is clearly not a situation that is likely to arise in the imminent future, but one can imagine that, perhaps in a few decades, the prospective creation of superintelligent machines could raise this kind of concern. The would-be creator of a new life form with such surpassing capabilities would have an obligation to ensure that the proposed being is free from psychopathic tendencies and, more generally, that it has humane inclinations. For example, a superintelligence should be built with a clear goal structure that has friendliness to humans as its top goal. Before running such a program, the builders of a superintelligence should be required to make a strong case that launching it would be safer than alternative courses of action.

Q. How does transhumanism relate to religion?

A. While not a religion, transhumanism might serve a few of the same functions that people have traditionally sought in religion. It offers a sense of direction and purpose and suggests a vision that humans can achieve something greater than our present condition. Unlike most religious believers, however, transhumanists seek to make their dreams come true in this world, by relying not on supernatural powers or divine intervention but on rational thinking and empiricism, through continued scientific, technological, economic, and human development. Some of the prospects that used to be the exclusive thunder of the religious institutions, such as very long lifespan, unfading bliss, and godlike intelligence, are being discussed by transhumanists as hypothetical future engineering achievements.

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I believe that this last question/answer, is the main thrust of transhumanism, innocuous though it may be. It seems that as man grows more technologically advanced that he becomes more self-focused and the idea of God/religion is replaced with the idea that man is God and does not need anything outside of himself. So, while some of the aspects of transhumanism may be beneficial to society and the individual, when it boils down, the whole transhumanism movement, is to exalt man to godhood status and the Bible makes it very clear that we are not God (Isaiah 43:10, 44:6). Moreover, the risks involved, which are acknowledged by Transhumanists, may be devastating. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this movement progresses in the months and years to come, if the Lord does not come back first!

Below I have placed some videos that explain the transhumanistic view as well as some articles which deal with human enhancement.

Check out these videos for more information.