transhumanism cyberthalamus
- From: greg_finch2@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 20 Sep 2005 10:31:28 -0700
Transhumanism:
<p>
Intro
<p>
A fairly new movement is gaining momentum by the day.
<b>Transhumanism</b> is
the study of ways to <i>transcend</i> our human (animal) limits. It
promises,
just for starters, a very long life--billions of years. But beyond
merely
living, the promise is of an existence far different than we know today
as Homo
sapiens.
<p>
<b>
The Word
</b>
<p>
The root of transhumanism is perhaps in the first time a sentient
looked in a
mirror and grasped the concept of body. The word itself is quite
recent--in
1957, Julian Huxley noted that <b>transhumanism</b> is:
<blockquote>
man remaining man, but transcending himself, by realizing new
possibilities of
and for his human nature
</blockquote>
todo
<p>
<b>
The Posthuman
</b>
<p>
A posthuman is one that has lost all remnant of animal material. He is
not
genetically enhanced--he has <b>transcended</b> genetics and biology
itself.
Parts of the brain--in particular sections of the thalamus--may have to
remain.
Or, to be truly posthuman, emulated on an engineered machine. At the
end of the
process lies a machine that does not involve DNA at all. Engineering
will have
trumped biology utterly. Notably, this machine will neither race nor
sex.
<p>
<b>
A Spike Versus a Spiral
</b>
<p>
Tied to talk of transhumanism is the "Singularity"--popularized by
Vernor Vinge.
A central quote is:
<blockquote>
Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create
superhuman
intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the human era will be ended.
</blockquote>
The idea is that of a singular event in the future will change our
lives so much
that predicting what is on the other side is impossible. In
mathematics, a
singularity occurs for example as you approach zero in the function
<i>1/x</i>.
This singular event could be a strong machine intelligence, or a brain
implant
so powerful that the user could immediately be considered superhuman.
<p>
The other side of the coin is, then, the slow uptake of transhumanist
technologies. As these technologist in turn help researchers devise
more, the
feedback loop pushes further advancement. The result is the same as a
singular
event, but the path is much different.
<p>
<b>
Ethics
</b>
<p>
Amidst the optimistic talk of the science and technology that will
propel the
movement forward is the steady voice of the ethicists. Not appealing to
any
religious angles, they instead wonder of how initial transhumans will
treat the
humans left behind (as well as the other animals). The Transhumanist <a
href=http://transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/faq/>FAQ</a> notes
that:
<blockquote>
Transhumanists seek to create a world in which autonomous individuals
may
choose to remain unenhanced or choose to be enhanced and in which these
choices
will be respected.
</blockquote>
This statement is false. One can easily be a transhumanist who seeks to
enslave, or just destroy the animals left behind (including humans). Or
perhaps
to give transhuman powers only to those who helped spread the word
early in the
movement. Ethical issues are orthogonal to technological issues. It is,
however,
understandable
that a nascent movement would want to present a non-threatening face to
the
mainstream.
<p>
<b>
Technology Currently In Development
</b>
<p>
A common response to this movement among nerds is general agreement but
with an
attitude of "how does this affect me?". Those who wait for the
singularity may
be missing the small steps that can be taken today to have a glimpse at
a
posthuman future. At this moment, in 2005, there are
steps that can take you closer to an engineered future.
<p>
For various reasons, advances that directly affect transhumanity are
often offered in the context of making the disabled normal. The key is
to fill
in the blanks and see how the same technology will be applied to making
the
normal <i>better than normal</i>. Some examples are:
<ul>
<li>Artificial cochleas, that have inputs to feed an audio signal
directly to
the brain.
<li>Devices that can scan the motor cortex, to intercept outgoing motor
signaling.
<li>Artificial retinas, that act as a digital camera might to feed
visual
information into the brain.
</ul>
<p>
<b>Transhuman Is Not Political</b>
<p>
A discussion of transhumanism could not be complete without the
political
implications of such technology. Common among those who subscribe to
the
movement is a libertarian philosophy--that of live and let live. As we
assume
the power to become self-sufficient through technology, libertarian
principles
can be more easily realized. Again, however, as with ethics, the
political
implications are orthogonal to the technology.
<p>
<b>Transhumanism Is Not a Religion</b>
<p>
Transhumanism is also rife with religious implications. Common, again,
among
transhumanists is an atheist viewpoint. Yet, much like science is
misconstrued
as atheistic, so can transhumanism.
<p>
<b>Organizations</b>
<p>
A variety of organizations have sprung up related to the movement. Ones
that are
particularly active today include:
<ul>
<li>The Singularity Institute.
<li>The World Transhumanism Association.
<li>Oxford.
</ul>
<p>
<b>Closing Thoughts</b>
<p>
Transhumanism defies words to describe its breadth of power to change
every one
of us. Concepts such as sex, money, and race will simply cease to
exist.
<p>
<i>September 2005</i>
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