Transhumanism wtf?
Somehow I stumbled across this beginners guide to transhumanism. I skimmed it. What do you want? I just finished Ray Kurzweil’s “The Singularity is Near” I get it!
So what is transhumanism to me? It begins with the idea that we are less that we can imagine ourselves to be. In Kurzweil’s book he cites how the creation myths of most religions involve humans descending from greater beings. This is a cop out on becoming something greater than what we are. Icarus falling to earth Aracne challenging the gods and being turned into a spider. The ongoing lesson is that ascension will only ever end in disaster.
Through science we have begun to see ourselves as rising from less complex origins. The implication is that we are moving towards a state of greater complexity and something greater than deemed possible by humanity. Does this mean transhumanism is Neitzche’s overman? I’m not entirely sure. The idea is that one day we will all become transhuman which kind of defeats Neitzche’s whole thesis. Or maybe not. When the day comes that a pill will make you immortal the people who take it aren’t necesarily transhuman because suddenly immortality becomes the new status quo. Maybe if you are first in line.
Transhumanism is pushing the boundaries of what is human. So while technology is certainly a part of it, following the doctor’s orders is just being human. The transhumanist was taking the immortality drug before it was approved and then moved on to melding their brain with an AI. In a more modern context the transhumanist must break free of the bonds he or she can which are largely psychological.
It’s funny that at the bottom of this little primer there are a number of links to alternative lifestyle pages. Perhaps breaking free of psychosexual moors of society is the most a transhumanist can muster these days. Yikes! Does this mean that in order to really call yourself a transhumanist you have to be a liberal intellectual smart drug taking body modified BDSM polyamorous freak? Maybe instead of Ray Kurzweil I should be reading Alistair Crowley.