"According to Nick Bostrom's 'The Transhumanist FAQ', transhumanists believe 'that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development but rather a comparatively early phase'. With the help of technology, we will be able to enhance our capacities far beyond their present state. It will be within our reach not only to live longer, but to live better.
[. . .]
"Transhumanists are utopians. They foresee a world in which our intellects will be as far above those of our current selves as we are now above chimpanzees. They dream of being impervious to disease and eternally youthful, of controlling their moods, never feeling tired or irritated, and of being able to experience pleasure, love and serenity beyond anything the human mind can currently imagine."
There's a definite thread of escapism running through transhumanist philosophy. And why shouldn't there be? "Escapism" is a loaded word, but it doesn't necessarily imply irresponsibility or naive wish-fulfillment (unless wielded by pundits with political axes to grind).
Who doesn't want to eradicate painful, debilitating (and potentially preventable) diseases? Who doesn't want to expand his or her mind? Who doesn't wish to become smarter or more capable?
A cancer patient who has a tumor removed has effectively "escaped" cancer, at least for the time-being. A person who utilizes a prosthetic device is "escaping," to a certain extent, the gross inconvenience of missing a limb. We are all escapists. If we had never chosen to escape the confines and dangers of our environment we never would have survived as a species; escapism is a virtue, and an expedient one at that.
I'm an unrepentant, unabashed transhumanist who finds nothing inherently sinister with using technology to better one's condition, be it cognitive or physical (if there is indeed a meaningful qualitative difference). The ideological barriers facing the transhumanist movement are epiphenomena, inconsequential on an evolutionary time-scale. And as we become increasingly adept at modifying that time-scale, spared the caprices of natural mutation and preventable catastrophe -- and who's to say what catastrophes aren't preventable, given sufficiently advanced intellectual and technological prowess? -- we become more a part of the Cosmos; we make the critical transition from mere inhabitants to co-conspirators.
9 comments:
Well, I believe that resistence to such technology will be shortlived. We are probably already using technology in such a way to better our lives. I bet when surgery was just starting out, people were saying it's evil and 'playing god'.
6th Grade: I beat up the class bully (in self-defense, of course) and somehow this made him want to share. What he shared was his collection of Galaxy magazines, and I went from Dick, Jane, and Spot to Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov in one fell quantum swoop. S.f. pretty much got me through Middle and High School without dying the death of a thousand yawns. Sure it was "escapist" but what a Great Escape. We ultimately "escape" into a profounder sense of reality, I think, when we take up the transhuman project in some form or other. (Not necessarily the "orthodox" form.) I guess what I'm trying to say is, excellent take on "escapism," Mac!
"Escapism" gets a bad rap when in truth it's a really powerful intellectual skill and survival tool.
If this 3D incarnation of us is only a minuet fragment of our greater trans dimensional higher self, then even boosting our human capabilities up to super human status would be like me clipping my toe nail, of not very much consequence to my infinite self, window dressing if you will. What I am saying is don’t sell your self short.
PS, Good job avoiding the orbs in your last series of photographs.
Gerald,
That's my problem with "old school" transhumanism; it's decidedly materialist, with little room for anything smacking of the paranormal. I think it's way too early to start writing off so-called "spiritual" implications. At the same time, I don't see why they can't be integrated within a new, more inclusive >T paradigm.
>T should have been >H to imply "greater than human"...
That last paragraph is ... basically, you scooped out my brain.
"old school transhumanism"?
There's nothing wrong with >T. Consider thefollowing
razorsmile -- The only page I could find that references nihilotech is the link you posted. Sounds like it has to do with a technology for tapping the vacuum energy?
I was actually referring to the magicalypse itself as a whole.
And yes, nihilotech is an invention of the blogger in question.