Transhumanism (Week 10)

What is Transhumanism? According to Max More (1990), “Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values.” The idea behind transhumanism is the futuristic development of the world where technology and scientific enhancements are the traditional norms (BBC Ideas, 2019).

Ever since humans started to evolve we have become smarter, stronger, our bodies have become more adaptable to the conditions of the planet and we seem to have started literature, arts, and science. However, as homo-sapiens, we have much to evolve but with the increase in technology and science, our involvement with the future seems to be wedded with sci-fi ideas that we would view and enjoy as entertainment (Mitwally, personal communication, 2020). We could go into the next stage of evolution where our bodies could be part machine and part human. For some, it could be completely machinery.

This higher form evolution is what many fear to be the beginning stages of human civilization’s demise but it is inevitable and one must embrace this idea and evolutionary process.

What are the positives that can come from this? What can we as humans achieve from this? Well, for a fact, humans have already developed the ability for a deaf person to hear via cochlea implants, we had technological enhancements and tools to repair our bodies and keep them intact to live a longer and healthier/safe life (Cegos Formation, 2020). But there are many philosophical and subjective answers to questions on what life would be like post-humanism.

What if there is a chip or drug that could make one smarter, live longer or even gain certain skills? What would happen to the linear flow of the education system and what kind of job opportunities would there be for beings and machines who are far superior to humans of the current decade (Dr. Talor, 2019).

I see this as a scope for achieving the impossible, one can think of these situations as a sci-fi horror scenario where machines would take over the world but if the world is more stable than it was when humans were in control, I see no reason why machines or A.I.’s should not oversee the future. I do personally hope that humans and machines can live in harmony, where there is no form of prejudice or hate towards either form of life, however, the human race must evolve socially and culturally first before accepting an entire race of artificial intelligence.

(iStockphot, 2019) REFERENCES:

BBC Ideas. (2019, Dec 31st). Transhumanism: Will humans evolve to something smarter? | BBC Ideas [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVmuU04-X5E 

Cegos Formation. (2020, Jan 17th). How transhumanist technologies will change everything? | Zoltan Istvan [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhBaXoB4iA8

Dr. Talor, J. (2019). Transhumanism. Retrieved from https://moodle-dubai.axis.navitas.com/mod/page/view.php?id=142324

iStockphoto. (2019). Retrieved from https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/transhumanism-where-physical-and-digital-worlds-meld

What is Transhumanism? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://whatistranshumanism.org/#what-is-transhumanism

APPENDIX:

Pretz, (2019). Transhumanism: Where Physical and Digital Worlds Meld. Retrieved from https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-news/transhumanism-where-physical-and-digital-worlds-meld