Transhumanism-the future of the human race or the end?

From the first link:

"Other transhumanist themes include space colonization and the possibility of creating superintelligent machines, along with other potential developments that could profoundly alter the human condition. The ambit is not limited to gadgets and medicine, but encompasses also economic, social, institutional designs, cultural development, and psychological skills and techniques."

Now that we know what it is, they need to pin it down and get more specific with what they have in mind.....or don't we want to know?

Exactly!

Transhumanists view human nature as a work-in-progress, a half-baked beginning that we can learn to remold in desirable ways. Current humanity need not be the endpoint of evolution. Transhumanists hope that by responsible use of science, technology, and other rational means we shall eventually manage to become posthuman, beings with vastly greater capacities than present human beings have.

Hmmm. Still seems vague. Rational means, responsible use of science, technology, greater capacity.

Reading the article, it said, "Some transhumanists take active steps to increase the probability that they personally will survive long enough to become posthuman, for example by choosing a healthy lifestyle or by making provisions for having themselves cryonically suspended in case of de-animation."

animation:

1. The act, process, or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.
2. The quality or condition of being alive, active, spirited, or vigorous.

So, does "de" animation mean dead? As in, "won't it be sad when our elderly parents de-animate"?

Makes me suspicious of motives when I need a dictionary to figure the terms and speculate what they are really saying.

The future may be the end....

Wow, nice links. under Future Day:

Encouraging us to celebrate what is now a holiday on March 1st?

“Future Day is designed to center the impossible in the public mind once a year as a temptation too delicious to resist,” says Howard Bloom, author of Global Brain.

“If all matter in the universe is comprised of patterns, let’s redesign what doesn’t work and form new methods for approaching the future with fluidity,” says designer Natasha Vita-More, Chair, Humanity+.

Under H+ it says, "featuring creative expressions of humanity on a razor’s edge where daily life and science fiction seem to be merging,"

and list an article, "4 Ways Google Glass Makes Us Transhuman"

It says: "Transhumanism is all about the creative and ethical use of technology to better the human condition. Futurists, when discussing topics related to transhumanism, tend to look at nano-tech, bio-mechanical augmentation and related technology that, for the most part, is beyond the comprehension of lay-people."
[link to hplusmagazine.com]

Whew, glad I'm not the only one not understanding it.

Maybe it's lack of understanding, but I'm not at all comfortable with this. Always thought science fiction was creepy but it looks like there's a push for it to become reality.

Once you start digging there's lots to uncover.....I find the subject fascinating! Especially the nanotechnology.....

good thread , love ya cat avatar :lolkit:

Thanks!

Not the end. But close.


Recombining Adam and Eve.

The Principles of Extropy do not specify particular beliefs, technologies, or policies. The Principles do not pretend to be a complete philosophy of life. The world does not need another totalistic dogma. The Principles of Extropy do consist of a handful of principles (or values or perspectives) that codify proactive, life-affirming and life-promoting ideals. Individuals who cannot comfortably adopt traditional value systems often find the Principles of Extropy useful as postulates to guide, inspire, and generate innovative thinking about existing and emerging fundamental personal, organizational, and social issues.

[link to www.extropy.org]

Last Edited by Elemental on 06/06/2013 12:33 PM

A lot of verbosity covering one principle: taking the humanity out of humanity.

And it accompishes this by replacing spirituality with science and its technological achievements, one of which it wants humanity itself to be... a technological achievement.

It takes all meaning out of being human, of being a human being. It takes also all meaning out of humanity's spiritual existence, as it wants nothing else than what science finds in the physical universe...

Ponder on this...

[link to gf2045.com]


Everything you want to know about this subject, in one event.

Thank you, your words convey my sentiments exactly!!!

Elemental, good thread :)
Glad I stumbled into it!

IN 100 YRS PROLLY LESS , YOU WONT EVEN RECOGNIZE WHAT WILL BE COME OF THE HUMAN RACE, BIONIC SUPERMEN WITH NO CONSCIENCE.

Is not escaping duality "good" in a way

I would love a world free of relativity, think of the novelty ;)

lets redefine time on our terms not the long dead popes and kings

This is mans natural progression and it will end in horrifying ways. The elites have been searching for the fountain of youth since the beginning of intelligent man. What is desired is to live for hundreds of years, or immortality in order to control nature in ways that are not meant to be controlled.

Take for example generic engineering. Of course it would be great to eradicate certain genetic diseases and traits in humans in order to preserve quality of life. But, what happens when we mess with the genetic code is still unknown. Perhaps erasing one sequence will mutate another many years in the future.

Then, we have bionic human traits where man will be intermixed with machine. This is primed for results that will alter human life, nature and the way we interact socially.

Another facet is access to healthcare. Those with money will be the first to begin the. Irrational away from natures body into the new human. It could be very real that in 100-200 years, the lifespan of the elites will avg 100s of years and for the rest of us, maybe 80 or more. This will leave the system much more unbalanced than it is today.

The uber wealth if the world is already working on this. They have access to the best healthcare, food and water that money can buy. However, as is common with humanity, one thing will always stand in their way... Nature. The fine balancing act of the natural world will indeed level the playing field again over time. Who knows, maybe death is so crucial to life at those who avoid it the longest, end up suffering the most. Time will tell.

*begin the migration away

iPad problems ha.

Yea that's what the elite want, the singularity is something different, only accessible to a special few right now, none of which are 'elite' in the traditional sense

a new god is being born
this should be interesting.

People willwake up and be like "I never asked for this."

That's deep, dude.....................:rome2000:

Ill take my chances. Not locking me in a hard drive. That's for damn fucking sure.

Or are we...

Let's not go there.

"Working to establish a more comfortable style of survival has grown to feel complete in and of itself as a reason to live, and we've gradually, methodically, forgotten our original question...We've forgotten that we still don't know what we are surviving FOR."

- Celestine Prophecy

I want it where do I sign up? Merge me with machine and make me happy.

I dont think they will achiave their goals...

[link to 2045.com]

The current iteration of human is not working out very well so some kind of transhumanism will have to be put into place for the species to step beyond the barely-above-animal natures that we have now.

As a side note, the movie transcendence is not about an evil machine-god trying to take over the world but rather about petty and fearful humans preventing an evolutionary leap forward.

And why should this be? If you have a soul, and you move that soul from a meat puppet into a mechanical system, how is that any less your soul? What if by doing so you give your spirit a container to operate in vastly beyond the capabilities of your meaty body and so expand your soul to reaches never before experienced by humanity, and you can then fly free and explore the universe like some kind of angelic spirit instead of a meat-monkey?

By escaping duality you mean abandoning the concepts good and evil. But you reverted to the concept good to justify choosing the abandonment.

You inadvertently demonstrated that without the concept good there is no reason to choose one thing over another. Life will essentially become a string of arbitrary choices, likely boiling down to a quest for more and more power.

Ray Kurtzwel works for google,

End.