7 July 2008
How You Will Save the World: A Transhumanist Methodology
Posted by Andrew Garcia under: Cyborg Culture; Transhumanism .
Transhumanism according to Wikipedia:
Transhumanism (sometimes symbolized by >H or H+),[1] a term often used as a synonym for “human enhancement“, is an international, intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes, and overcome what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging and involuntary death. Transhumanist thinkers study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Possible dangers, as well as benefits, of powerful new technologies that might radically change the conditions of human life are also of concern to the transhumanist movement.[2]
Cool. Now that we’re on the same page we can discuss the pertinence of H+ culture in the realm of Cyborgs.
While being a Cyborg often misconstrues a notion of relation to the H+ movement in a Science Fiction context, there is a very real connection between the two memes.
Don’t get it? One of the aims of the Transhumanist proponents is typically to change society in a positive way through societal/cultural augmentation (utilizing various interpersonal and electronic technologies). We place value on controlling our own evolution (see: microevolution) to ultimately breed ourselves into godhood. Now we’re getting into posthumanist territory.
As a first post on this blog, I want to keep it kind of light and ask what all of your feelings are on the issue. Thus, I pose the following:
Do you think it’s possible to utilize up and coming technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and others to shape the very way our culture evolves?
And if so, could we have the power to solve all of today’s problems with it?
3 Comments so far...
a. mystic Says:
9 July 2008 at 10:27 am.
you’ve missed the boat on transhumanism by about 5000 years.
the entire history of mankind is a sort of drawn out transhumanist movement.
you have to consider that at one time, putting salt on one’s food was considered high tech. making bronze alloys was like nanotechnology. the loom was like the first robot.
all of human activity - art, technology, etc - is one enormous and desperate attempt to escape the inevitability of death
every thought is a delusion, a little shelter from the terrible oblivion , the excruciating absence of anything at all that is reality, that we are really nothing that we think we are.
all forms of spirituality in some way deal with this wish to ‘breed oneself into godhood’. The basic desire for transcending the human condition is maybe one of the most human desires we have.
Andrew Garcia Says:
9 July 2008 at 10:49 am.
Thank you for your comment.
Excellent insight a. mystic. I think religion is possibly one of the most primitive technologies we have in dealing with the human condition. It often promises freedom in one form or another.
One thing in your post stood out. You mention how at one point putting salt on one’s food was considered high tech. This is very true but it raises the question of boundaries.
I often ask people I know, “What is a Cyborg?” Most often people fail to draw the line between certain technologies that make one a Cyborg or not. To some people, having an RFID chip in your arm is being a Cyborg, while others require a neural interface to be a Cyborg.
Using your logic one would have to ask, does riding a bicycle or putting salt on your food qualify you as a Cyborg?
Of course, I took your comment out of context but you see my point nonetheless. I personally believe we have always been and always will be Cyborgs for specific reasons mentioned in my Cyborg 101 page, but also for general reasons that coincide with what you describe in discussing the epic transhumanist movement that is Human Existance.
nimo Says:
14 August 2008 at 2:32 pm.
I’ve one doubt will the present society is ready to accept cyborgs,coz every so called above mentioned technologies are dictated by markets.For example if Quantum Teleportation is succeed in future there’s no need of 747 and Airbus,but will general public show any interest in it?? a serious question