I understand your concern. Transhumanism does have the ultimate goal of creating post-humans, but until we get there they generally employ caution when analyzing the benefits of each new breakthrough and don't flock to any one idea as gospel. Many if not most transhumanists are atheist and might view humanity as being in a slow ascension to possessing what used to seem like God-like powers.
People call me transhuman... but I've never been human so the term doesn't apply. I'm all for humans reverse engineering any of the prosthetic technology designed for my use to better themselves though ;3 The closer I get to being functional the closer humans can get to being like me :D Well not entirely... hard to be human with a fully hybrotic non-primate brain and neural network ;3
I am against it because of the moral hazard of government. I feel we are more prone to be talked into certain integration or programming of the brain and our body that can regulate behavior which ultimately leads to more cutthroat centralized control.
Humans are not going from caveman-with-20-yr-life-expectancy to Data (Star Trek) in one giant leap. My own family wears glasses, has catarac replacement lenses, uses hearing aids, has knee and hip replacements and pacemakers and insulin pumps. Friends have artificial hands and limbs. Our species will creep up on it. There will be no sudden jolt of realization that we're crossed some invisible line.
I've always thought the term a little premature too...but maybe it's not. There are cyborgs and genetically modified humans around today. Can't someone who has a cochlear implant that gives better than normal hearing, or who has a powerful cybernetic arm, be a transhumanist already?
Plus the tech is arriving quickly (see my Science & Technology vs. Religion video)...so maybe some decisions about what we are need to be made now.
It is a total waste of time. The most likely outcome of the end of this century is that life will be much more like 1800 than 2000 come 2100. Our societal complexity is a side effect of our hitting the energy jackpot of fossil fuels. Our society relies on massive amounts of cheap energy. The only source of cheap energy we can know of right now, isn't possible yet (fusion).
The integration of human beings with engineered components is for the most part limited to medicine but it’s still happening. People are changing the properties of their body’s by incorporating pacemakers, smart prosthetics, engineered tissues, cochlear implants ect. It’s not full blown replacement of the human body but you say trans humanism is science fiction. Humanity started crawling toward trans humanism in the 17th century and has taken its first baby steps in the last few decades.
I didn’t realise trans humanism had such strong support? Are they all becoming engineers, doctors, pharmacists, biomedical researchers? I don’t mind enthusiastic trans humanists that actually get off there arse and try to do their tiny part to push us on our way there but I don’t really like the dogmatic ones that have no desire to figure out how it works.
That's where it's always used first... artificial sight, hearing, limbs, etc., and I'm sure the first full body models will be used for paraplegics. I was kinda just being an ass, but since you commented I figured I would explain my full perspective. I wouldn't go fully android until I was shown to be immensely reliable or I was on the verge of death. In either case, I'd keep multiple backups on system like a RAID 3 setup and multiple copies externally. Ghost in the Shell for me!
My issues on the subject are, I'm all for the technology, but but without a soul, going too far would just be copying, I wuold die, but a copy exist. It's like the thing with star trek style transporters, does the person die every single time they use it, and simply a copy made? "I" would continue to exist, but the me that currently does, would no longer. Heh I've bene having those weird thoughts on it for like 20 years. Or the likes of thought transference. If I switched my mind with a
@wolfwing1 eagle say, would I be in the eagle, or would I be me, that thinks I'm the mind of a eagle in a human body? *if such a thing is possible heh*
While I believe that we should be critical of technophilia, I also think that the blanket condemnation of transhumanism is based in a fear of a "Frankenstein" like monstrosity being created (either individually or as a society; way of life). It is the fear of technology going out of our control. In fact an argument could be made that modern technology is already out of our control. Personally I think it is the system that is beyond our control, not the tech.
If transhumanism is possible (I think it is) then we, as a species, are fucked. If we can augment our intelligence we can create artificial intelligence. Evolution places limits on how smart we can be but there are no such limits on AI. Sure, an AI might be slow but it can be fucking immense.
Arthur C Clarke wrote a short story. World's most powerful computer. Asked if there was a God. Answer: NOW there is.
Cyborgs are all around us: Ear Implants, artificial ocular leses, endo & exo prostetics, tooth implants, reconstructive surgery, contacts, even glasses etc. Transhumanist ideas allready sneaked into our reality.
I love Science and everything that comes with it period, I just a human and I would like to try everything that technology and Science can bring...lol
@mattmar826 I have a feeling that if we move towards machines we will always maintain a way to revert to organic if we chose to. A code of our DNA will be maintained in our brains in case we get tired of being robots and want to be humans again.
Awww. I want Warp drive technology. Star Trek uses warp without large repercussions to the environment. Great Scot We need to go to the future to find out the secret to safe traveling.
@emperorkang Depends on the state of the world. Under some situations I would have no problem kicking the bucket, under others I fear I will miss some new advancement like what just happened with the Kepler planet finder, Its sad that Sagan isn't around to see all of these amazing finds in extra-solar planets even though his work is what helped make it possible.
@anubis2814 if you believe in "the big crunch" death of the universe or if the universe stretches out too far and all of the stars and planets die out, leading to "the big freeze", would you want to be alive long enough to see the end of all things? if a nuclear war started and you had twenty minutes to go to a radiation-proof bomb shelter, would you go?
In speaking of this subject I often wonder what will happen to sports as our ability to manipulate the body is honed. Seems we'll see a shift from genetically gifted to gene-therapy gifted on the sporting field. Will make the whole steroids debate look silly.
"Is there a point the be for or against a technology that doesn't exist yet?"
actually computer intelligence will be on a same level as ours less than in 50 years and it's a quite accurate prediction and everyone agrees who looks at statistics. same with genetics engineering, scientists have great progress in that field, if you had more information you would be less shallow about it :D I hope you will make more videos about transhumanis :)
if one is not transhumanist one should realize that human race will die out within 200 years because computer intelligence is evolving 10000 faster than ours. life must leave organic! it should not go digital and it should be on a higher level than digital just like it always was, I think everyone would agree (except people who expect armageddon) and only way for saving our sacred organic life is to be a transhumanist and support genetic modification studies and allow it to be used in the future
you should rename this video an call it technological transhumanism. I think they are really stupid because they don't realize that computer's will become much more intelligent than we are and it will be pointless to put human brain in a computer, it's like putting volkswagen beetle's motor in a helicopter :D we will become pets for robots or they will just destroy us as unnecessary encumbrance like in the film terminator, if we won't follow different way of transhmanism -> genetic engineering!
@insanewarlock666 Actually not true, in 2020 a model of the human brain will be built inside a computer and from there they will map it out and figure out exactly how it work. Then they can scan your brain and find areas of improvement and insert chips to make you smarter or if you have a psychological problem like say a sociopath lacking in mirror neurons to produce empathy they can insert a chip and make the person a functioning being in society. You could upgrade your brain every few years.
@anubis2814 yes there will be a model but computers by that tine will be too slow to make it function. I think there must be other ways than inserting chips... :D I don't even think it would be allowed, because it completely contradicts aesthetics.
robot (will be) > human
human + robor = shit
computers would not need people in order to exist, multiply and dilate :D
Scientific advancements are not harmful. The technologies built on them can be, and their applications as well. So, it's up to society to decide, yet again, on what it's future, and the future of the separate individuals, will be.
@dewinthemorning Moore's law of technology vs Dawkin's "Moore's Law of ethics" are always in a race, if technology wins we all die. Just like with anything we have to stay ever vigilant, if we do all new technology can be beneficial.
Question? Are you only talking about inorganic brains? Sorry I haven't taken any to look up what exactly transhumanists believe/want. There are plenty of people who have machines that replace body parts. No we aren't at the point of REPLACING the brain, but we are well on the way to incorporating them into people's brains who are paralyzed to give them mobility again or other functions. ie. running a computer or chair with their thoughts.
@Thayer79 Well if you read the treads they seem to think that wearing glasses is transhumanism and I'm trying to tell them its an innate part of just being human as will be any other advancement we make. cyborg improvement of the brain and is another, these will happen, giving yourself a distinction over other people with it is pointless.
LOL Transcurious! Great video, I'm a transhumanist myself and I think some of these things are already happening and that it's important to discuss them because there are a lot of issues we need to hammer out to avoid a knee jerk reaction or a catastrophic mistake.
Personally I'm big on cultured meat and vat grown foods, geothermal energy, ectogenesis, and think it's high time we start building an archology that combines these technologies, if nothing else as an insurance policy.
Aren't we already glued to our televisions and computers and cell phones? Even if those things aren't surgically grafted onto us, we're still caught up in the use of technology. So I'd say the dawn of the age is already upon us - we're just working out the fine details of how to sew the things into the human being. For some stuff, I think it's great (think prosthetics) for other stuff, not so much (do we really need Fox News in our head? shivers).
Mixing in humor with critique, awesomely done! For that, thumbs up!
However, more to your point. We've already begun to have technology to improve human life. Some of it better some of it worse. There's a chip you can put in your brain if you have huge memory issues. There's prosthetic limbs and organs. There is even others yet still. We've already started down that road.
@spartacandream Then why make a big distinction about it, this is just the human condition, technology changes humans, humans change technology. It was in fact our technology of fire and stone tools that allowed us to evolve the big brains. Agriculture moved our evolution even more forward.
@anubis2814 Because, instead of just fixing our lives at present, and making it easier the way it is, we're seeking to improve upon it more. Not everyone wants to improve upon the human race. That's the distinction. Yet they still support technology. Some people are transhumanists and don't even know it.
Transhumanism in its core structural features bears a striking resemblance to religions. It believes in utopias that may be not even realized based on unjustified extrapolation of science and technology to incorporate objects of desire, the motors of all religions: immortality, perfection and a narrative of salvation. Its almost like scientology (in this case science-worshiping) without Xenu and the likes.
@eydos Also, please note, that as Carl Sagan said: the universe is not for our convenience. It may be the case for example that going around relativistic speeds in space-travel will be proven to be impossible: simply contrary to the laws of space-time. We may yet find out many such impossibilities regardless our wishes to transcend them. The universe not existing for our convenience means only this: we may have wishes that may never be fulfilled because their objects does not exist.
If nothing else, it is worth discussing transhuman technologies, that don't exist yet (but are likely to exist in the future). The reason for this, is that although these technologies will have great benefits, they also could have great dangers. Perhaps by discussing these, we will be more prepared for them when they arrive.
Transhumanism--which will undoubtedly extend the human lifespan--seems, to me, to be a rather potentially dangerous thing for overcrowding.
Beyond that, I'm fully in support of pursuing the idea, tho.
So let's hurry up and figure out how to colonize other worlds--preferably extra-solar, but I'll take non-Terran at this point--and make with the cyborgy goodness! :)
Firstly. I fucking love that picture of Anubis at the first of your video. I would also say that I'm Trans Curious as well. Especially as far as nanotechnology is concerned. I watched a TED video I think it was and they were talking about the uses of tiny nanobots that would have the ability to repair damaged dna and perform tasks like unclog arteries and what have ya. I'm all for that. But I don't want to live forever. I do want to die eventually.
Organic matter is a great thing but has many flaws we cannot improve to take care of our problems. Right next to our organic evolution or "natural" is our technological evolution as well as social of course. The more areas we try to push and evolve the better. Fearing the possibilities is fine but do not damn something entirely for a possibility. I could live in fear of my chair tipping over but does that mean I just stand up all the time as I have more control over my balance? Bad example XD
oh how technology will transform us when we can actually make ourselves (beyond a few lab cases) cyborgs. But the jump will be like going from the building sized number crunching machines (where we are now) to the iphone (the far future).
I am a transhumanist. I have plastic replacement lenses in my eyes. I know people who have artificial hips and there are are other artificial organs coming online soon. Already an artist has had himself chipped. We are living in the beginning of technologies that will make such integration a reality. We have already artificially extended the human lifespan. These things are happening NOW.
@colourmegone Then why make a big distinction about it, this is just the human condition, technology changes humans, humans change technology. It was in fact our technology of fire and stone tools that allowed us to evolve the big brains.
@anubis2814 True, fire was a very big step, as was the wheel, cooking and other technologies. The fact is they didn't change us essentially as modern technology has. We forget that the last 200 years have brought a huge leap in our capacity to control the world and ourselves. Suppose we could double our productive lives, how much of a difference would that make? That has already happened, we now have people in their 60s and 70s doing useful work.
@colourmegone Fire was low in the exponential movement toward this stage, it is what makes us human, as more infrastructure is built from past technology, more can be built. This is called Moore's law and is shown in computers. Yes we haven't seen anything like these changes so far, because we were in the early exponential stages. Prothetics though not as effective have been around for centuries. Giving it a different distinction to what you believe? Desire? Strive for? Is just redundant.
@anubis2814 Fire did not make us human, being human allowed us to make fire. And Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can be put onto an IC doubles every two years, actually I believe it's now about every 18 months. Your ignorance is exceeded only by the disorganised nature of your comment, which I found almost unreadable.
@colourmegone Ah yes insulting a person is a great way to make your point. Read "Catching Fire" by Richard Wrangham. If you have studied brain evolution the evolution of technology was very slow and it took a long time for erectus to discover how to start fires. You are correct that the definition of Moore's law has to do purely with transistors but among the scientists who study evolution of technology it has taken on a more broad meaning. Emergence of tech effecting humans effecting tech
@anubis2814 Technology has already changed humans for thousands of years. If I'm not mistaken, being white skinned is only useful in climates where humans cannot survive without technology (increased vitamin D production in temperate climates). To some degree, all whites are transhumanists.
@colourmegone I have to agree with this statement. The glasses on my face are transhuman are they not? My arch support insoles are as well. The cane I use to help me walk could be seen as transhuman. These and things like them will become more and more integrated into the life of humans.
Although to say that one is transhuman or not is kind of silly. Almost all humans living in "civilized" society could be considered transhuman by this definition.
@papapepepenultimo Exactly! Although I thought the troglodytes had all moved into houses, or at least trailers, except for a few holdouts here and there with no internet access.
To be "transhumanist" is part of being human and we're not the only species, there are many others who seek to transcend their limitations. The urge to enhance natural capabilities is much more interesting than the question of what "transhumanism" might mean.
it's way funner to think about shit that's not happening to us than to think about shit that is happening to us.. that's why i love reading about the revolution in Egypt.. but i hate reading about Obama trying not to drop the country.. I love thinking about Star Wars history.. I hate reading about fucking middle eastern history. depressing.
I understand your concern. Transhumanism does have the ultimate goal of creating post-humans, but until we get there they generally employ caution when analyzing the benefits of each new breakthrough and don't flock to any one idea as gospel. Many if not most transhumanists are atheist and might view humanity as being in a slow ascension to possessing what used to seem like God-like powers.
JamesonLemonade 3 months ago
People call me transhuman... but I've never been human so the term doesn't apply. I'm all for humans reverse engineering any of the prosthetic technology designed for my use to better themselves though ;3 The closer I get to being functional the closer humans can get to being like me :D Well not entirely... hard to be human with a fully hybrotic non-primate brain and neural network ;3
PinkProgram 3 months ago
Uh , I am a meat popsicle.
DonQuixotedeKaw 1 year ago
I am against it because of the moral hazard of government. I feel we are more prone to be talked into certain integration or programming of the brain and our body that can regulate behavior which ultimately leads to more cutthroat centralized control.
pedroquintero 1 year ago
@pedroquintero A government is only as good as its people.
anubis2814 11 months ago
Humans are not going from caveman-with-20-yr-life-expectancy to Data (Star Trek) in one giant leap. My own family wears glasses, has catarac replacement lenses, uses hearing aids, has knee and hip replacements and pacemakers and insulin pumps. Friends have artificial hands and limbs. Our species will creep up on it. There will be no sudden jolt of realization that we're crossed some invisible line.
0609jean 1 year ago
I've always thought the term a little premature too...but maybe it's not. There are cyborgs and genetically modified humans around today. Can't someone who has a cochlear implant that gives better than normal hearing, or who has a powerful cybernetic arm, be a transhumanist already?
Plus the tech is arriving quickly (see my Science & Technology vs. Religion video)...so maybe some decisions about what we are need to be made now.
Just saying....
Underlings 1 year ago
A brilliant video, totally representative of my own views on the subject
niriop 1 year ago
i was same as u when cell phones started being regularly used
drinkycrow67 1 year ago
It is a total waste of time. The most likely outcome of the end of this century is that life will be much more like 1800 than 2000 come 2100. Our societal complexity is a side effect of our hitting the energy jackpot of fossil fuels. Our society relies on massive amounts of cheap energy. The only source of cheap energy we can know of right now, isn't possible yet (fusion).
christo930 1 year ago
The integration of human beings with engineered components is for the most part limited to medicine but it’s still happening. People are changing the properties of their body’s by incorporating pacemakers, smart prosthetics, engineered tissues, cochlear implants ect. It’s not full blown replacement of the human body but you say trans humanism is science fiction. Humanity started crawling toward trans humanism in the 17th century and has taken its first baby steps in the last few decades.
antonyneal 1 year ago
I didn’t realise trans humanism had such strong support? Are they all becoming engineers, doctors, pharmacists, biomedical researchers? I don’t mind enthusiastic trans humanists that actually get off there arse and try to do their tiny part to push us on our way there but I don’t really like the dogmatic ones that have no desire to figure out how it works.
antonyneal 1 year ago
I'm all for it, but I won't be the first in line. First generation technologies usually have a few kinks to work out.
xccmx 1 year ago
@xccmx Fine line tech will be used on near death patients and people with mental disorders.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814
That's where it's always used first... artificial sight, hearing, limbs, etc., and I'm sure the first full body models will be used for paraplegics. I was kinda just being an ass, but since you commented I figured I would explain my full perspective. I wouldn't go fully android until I was shown to be immensely reliable or I was on the verge of death. In either case, I'd keep multiple backups on system like a RAID 3 setup and multiple copies externally. Ghost in the Shell for me!
xccmx 1 year ago
@TLSlayer1 If you didn't notice the difference would you care?
anubis2814 1 year ago
My issues on the subject are, I'm all for the technology, but but without a soul, going too far would just be copying, I wuold die, but a copy exist. It's like the thing with star trek style transporters, does the person die every single time they use it, and simply a copy made? "I" would continue to exist, but the me that currently does, would no longer. Heh I've bene having those weird thoughts on it for like 20 years. Or the likes of thought transference. If I switched my mind with a
wolfwing1 1 year ago
@wolfwing1 eagle say, would I be in the eagle, or would I be me, that thinks I'm the mind of a eagle in a human body? *if such a thing is possible heh*
wolfwing1 1 year ago
@wolfwing1 Do we have evidence of a soul?
anubis2814 1 year ago
While I believe that we should be critical of technophilia, I also think that the blanket condemnation of transhumanism is based in a fear of a "Frankenstein" like monstrosity being created (either individually or as a society; way of life). It is the fear of technology going out of our control. In fact an argument could be made that modern technology is already out of our control. Personally I think it is the system that is beyond our control, not the tech.
Maphisto86 1 year ago
If transhumanism is possible (I think it is) then we, as a species, are fucked. If we can augment our intelligence we can create artificial intelligence. Evolution places limits on how smart we can be but there are no such limits on AI. Sure, an AI might be slow but it can be fucking immense.
Arthur C Clarke wrote a short story. World's most powerful computer. Asked if there was a God. Answer: NOW there is.
bdf2718 1 year ago
It will probably happen, but it should be left up to the individual if they want to do it.
GeekyMex 1 year ago
Cyborgs are all around us: Ear Implants, artificial ocular leses, endo & exo prostetics, tooth implants, reconstructive surgery, contacts, even glasses etc. Transhumanist ideas allready sneaked into our reality.
Skoenner 1 year ago
Cyberoptics would be cool.
fractal420 1 year ago
I love Science and everything that comes with it period, I just a human and I would like to try everything that technology and Science can bring...lol
WICKEDMAN9MM 1 year ago
If we lose our humanism do you think we would have more problems with our own existence?
mattmar826 1 year ago
@mattmar826 I have a feeling that if we move towards machines we will always maintain a way to revert to organic if we chose to. A code of our DNA will be maintained in our brains in case we get tired of being robots and want to be humans again.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 Yeah thats true.
mattmar826 1 year ago
Awww. I want Warp drive technology. Star Trek uses warp without large repercussions to the environment. Great Scot We need to go to the future to find out the secret to safe traveling.
ImperialTrekkie237 1 year ago
Do you wanna live forever?
emperorkang 1 year ago
@emperorkang Depends on the state of the world. Under some situations I would have no problem kicking the bucket, under others I fear I will miss some new advancement like what just happened with the Kepler planet finder, Its sad that Sagan isn't around to see all of these amazing finds in extra-solar planets even though his work is what helped make it possible.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 if you believe in "the big crunch" death of the universe or if the universe stretches out too far and all of the stars and planets die out, leading to "the big freeze", would you want to be alive long enough to see the end of all things? if a nuclear war started and you had twenty minutes to go to a radiation-proof bomb shelter, would you go?
emperorkang 1 year ago
@emperorkang Depends on the circumstances.
anubis2814 1 year ago
In speaking of this subject I often wonder what will happen to sports as our ability to manipulate the body is honed. Seems we'll see a shift from genetically gifted to gene-therapy gifted on the sporting field. Will make the whole steroids debate look silly.
fatkat444 1 year ago
"Is there a point the be for or against a technology that doesn't exist yet?"
actually computer intelligence will be on a same level as ours less than in 50 years and it's a quite accurate prediction and everyone agrees who looks at statistics. same with genetics engineering, scientists have great progress in that field, if you had more information you would be less shallow about it :D I hope you will make more videos about transhumanis :)
insanewarlock666 1 year ago
if one is not transhumanist one should realize that human race will die out within 200 years because computer intelligence is evolving 10000 faster than ours. life must leave organic! it should not go digital and it should be on a higher level than digital just like it always was, I think everyone would agree (except people who expect armageddon) and only way for saving our sacred organic life is to be a transhumanist and support genetic modification studies and allow it to be used in the future
insanewarlock666 1 year ago
you should rename this video an call it technological transhumanism. I think they are really stupid because they don't realize that computer's will become much more intelligent than we are and it will be pointless to put human brain in a computer, it's like putting volkswagen beetle's motor in a helicopter :D we will become pets for robots or they will just destroy us as unnecessary encumbrance like in the film terminator, if we won't follow different way of transhmanism -> genetic engineering!
insanewarlock666 1 year ago
@insanewarlock666 Actually not true, in 2020 a model of the human brain will be built inside a computer and from there they will map it out and figure out exactly how it work. Then they can scan your brain and find areas of improvement and insert chips to make you smarter or if you have a psychological problem like say a sociopath lacking in mirror neurons to produce empathy they can insert a chip and make the person a functioning being in society. You could upgrade your brain every few years.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 yes there will be a model but computers by that tine will be too slow to make it function. I think there must be other ways than inserting chips... :D I don't even think it would be allowed, because it completely contradicts aesthetics.
robot (will be) > human
human + robor = shit
computers would not need people in order to exist, multiply and dilate :D
insanewarlock666 1 year ago
Trans-curious. LOL XD
alowlyapprentice 1 year ago
Scientific advancements are not harmful. The technologies built on them can be, and their applications as well. So, it's up to society to decide, yet again, on what it's future, and the future of the separate individuals, will be.
dewinthemorning 1 year ago
@dewinthemorning Moore's law of technology vs Dawkin's "Moore's Law of ethics" are always in a race, if technology wins we all die. Just like with anything we have to stay ever vigilant, if we do all new technology can be beneficial.
anubis2814 1 year ago
Question? Are you only talking about inorganic brains? Sorry I haven't taken any to look up what exactly transhumanists believe/want. There are plenty of people who have machines that replace body parts. No we aren't at the point of REPLACING the brain, but we are well on the way to incorporating them into people's brains who are paralyzed to give them mobility again or other functions. ie. running a computer or chair with their thoughts.
Thayer79 1 year ago
@Thayer79 Well if you read the treads they seem to think that wearing glasses is transhumanism and I'm trying to tell them its an innate part of just being human as will be any other advancement we make. cyborg improvement of the brain and is another, these will happen, giving yourself a distinction over other people with it is pointless.
anubis2814 1 year ago
LOL Transcurious! Great video, I'm a transhumanist myself and I think some of these things are already happening and that it's important to discuss them because there are a lot of issues we need to hammer out to avoid a knee jerk reaction or a catastrophic mistake.
Personally I'm big on cultured meat and vat grown foods, geothermal energy, ectogenesis, and think it's high time we start building an archology that combines these technologies, if nothing else as an insurance policy.
GodlessInfinity 1 year ago
Aren't we already glued to our televisions and computers and cell phones? Even if those things aren't surgically grafted onto us, we're still caught up in the use of technology. So I'd say the dawn of the age is already upon us - we're just working out the fine details of how to sew the things into the human being. For some stuff, I think it's great (think prosthetics) for other stuff, not so much (do we really need Fox News in our head? shivers).
M0US3P0T4TO 1 year ago
Mixing in humor with critique, awesomely done! For that, thumbs up!
However, more to your point. We've already begun to have technology to improve human life. Some of it better some of it worse. There's a chip you can put in your brain if you have huge memory issues. There's prosthetic limbs and organs. There is even others yet still. We've already started down that road.
spartacandream 1 year ago
@spartacandream Then why make a big distinction about it, this is just the human condition, technology changes humans, humans change technology. It was in fact our technology of fire and stone tools that allowed us to evolve the big brains. Agriculture moved our evolution even more forward.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 Because, instead of just fixing our lives at present, and making it easier the way it is, we're seeking to improve upon it more. Not everyone wants to improve upon the human race. That's the distinction. Yet they still support technology. Some people are transhumanists and don't even know it.
spartacandream 1 year ago
you've voiced my own take on the subject, in every respect.
macnutz 1 year ago
Transhumanism in its core structural features bears a striking resemblance to religions. It believes in utopias that may be not even realized based on unjustified extrapolation of science and technology to incorporate objects of desire, the motors of all religions: immortality, perfection and a narrative of salvation. Its almost like scientology (in this case science-worshiping) without Xenu and the likes.
eydos 1 year ago
@eydos Also, please note, that as Carl Sagan said: the universe is not for our convenience. It may be the case for example that going around relativistic speeds in space-travel will be proven to be impossible: simply contrary to the laws of space-time. We may yet find out many such impossibilities regardless our wishes to transcend them. The universe not existing for our convenience means only this: we may have wishes that may never be fulfilled because their objects does not exist.
eydos 1 year ago
If nothing else, it is worth discussing transhuman technologies, that don't exist yet (but are likely to exist in the future). The reason for this, is that although these technologies will have great benefits, they also could have great dangers. Perhaps by discussing these, we will be more prepared for them when they arrive.
kanesoban 1 year ago
Transhumanism--which will undoubtedly extend the human lifespan--seems, to me, to be a rather potentially dangerous thing for overcrowding.
Beyond that, I'm fully in support of pursuing the idea, tho.
So let's hurry up and figure out how to colonize other worlds--preferably extra-solar, but I'll take non-Terran at this point--and make with the cyborgy goodness! :)
BionicDance 1 year ago
Firstly. I fucking love that picture of Anubis at the first of your video. I would also say that I'm Trans Curious as well. Especially as far as nanotechnology is concerned. I watched a TED video I think it was and they were talking about the uses of tiny nanobots that would have the ability to repair damaged dna and perform tasks like unclog arteries and what have ya. I'm all for that. But I don't want to live forever. I do want to die eventually.
exacerbatedtaboo 1 year ago
@exacerbatedtaboo Which is why deciding the circumstances you want to live or die is important for the future
anubis2814 1 year ago
i find the organic/machine distinction to be a false one, we are machines already. this is a battle of language, not so much technology.
KaligulaLoves 1 year ago
@KaligulaLoves agreed
anubis2814 1 year ago
Organic matter is a great thing but has many flaws we cannot improve to take care of our problems. Right next to our organic evolution or "natural" is our technological evolution as well as social of course. The more areas we try to push and evolve the better. Fearing the possibilities is fine but do not damn something entirely for a possibility. I could live in fear of my chair tipping over but does that mean I just stand up all the time as I have more control over my balance? Bad example XD
WarMasterX6 1 year ago
"I'm just a humanist who's very trans curious... Wait, that didn't come out right..." --anubis2814
That's a great finish in a video reply to ZJ. I just had to say so. Now where did my damn 5* button go....
renegade4dio 1 year ago
oh how technology will transform us when we can actually make ourselves (beyond a few lab cases) cyborgs. But the jump will be like going from the building sized number crunching machines (where we are now) to the iphone (the far future).
RavenBlaze 1 year ago
I'm double trans, transhumanist & transgendered.
videoguy604 1 year ago
"some ive met"
ya i remember that guy LOL
SkeptikSnarf 1 year ago
I am a transhumanist. I have plastic replacement lenses in my eyes. I know people who have artificial hips and there are are other artificial organs coming online soon. Already an artist has had himself chipped. We are living in the beginning of technologies that will make such integration a reality. We have already artificially extended the human lifespan. These things are happening NOW.
colourmegone 1 year ago 9
@colourmegone Then why make a big distinction about it, this is just the human condition, technology changes humans, humans change technology. It was in fact our technology of fire and stone tools that allowed us to evolve the big brains.
anubis2814 1 year ago 4
@anubis2814 True, fire was a very big step, as was the wheel, cooking and other technologies. The fact is they didn't change us essentially as modern technology has. We forget that the last 200 years have brought a huge leap in our capacity to control the world and ourselves. Suppose we could double our productive lives, how much of a difference would that make? That has already happened, we now have people in their 60s and 70s doing useful work.
colourmegone 1 year ago
@colourmegone Fire was low in the exponential movement toward this stage, it is what makes us human, as more infrastructure is built from past technology, more can be built. This is called Moore's law and is shown in computers. Yes we haven't seen anything like these changes so far, because we were in the early exponential stages. Prothetics though not as effective have been around for centuries. Giving it a different distinction to what you believe? Desire? Strive for? Is just redundant.
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 Fire did not make us human, being human allowed us to make fire. And Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can be put onto an IC doubles every two years, actually I believe it's now about every 18 months. Your ignorance is exceeded only by the disorganised nature of your comment, which I found almost unreadable.
colourmegone 1 year ago
@colourmegone Ah yes insulting a person is a great way to make your point. Read "Catching Fire" by Richard Wrangham. If you have studied brain evolution the evolution of technology was very slow and it took a long time for erectus to discover how to start fires. You are correct that the definition of Moore's law has to do purely with transistors but among the scientists who study evolution of technology it has taken on a more broad meaning. Emergence of tech effecting humans effecting tech
anubis2814 1 year ago
@anubis2814 Technology has already changed humans for thousands of years. If I'm not mistaken, being white skinned is only useful in climates where humans cannot survive without technology (increased vitamin D production in temperate climates). To some degree, all whites are transhumanists.
grieske 11 months ago
@colourmegone I have to agree with this statement. The glasses on my face are transhuman are they not? My arch support insoles are as well. The cane I use to help me walk could be seen as transhuman. These and things like them will become more and more integrated into the life of humans.
Although to say that one is transhuman or not is kind of silly. Almost all humans living in "civilized" society could be considered transhuman by this definition.
But what evs.
TheLaughingOut 1 year ago
@colourmegone "These things are happening NOW."
"It's happening, Reg. Something's actually happening, Reg. Can't you understand? Aaawoooooo!!!!!"
Loretta --- Life Of Brian.
skepticoz 1 year ago
@colourmegone Caveman more transhumanist. Caveman enlarge arm with stick.
papapepepenultimo 1 year ago
@papapepepenultimo Exactly! Although I thought the troglodytes had all moved into houses, or at least trailers, except for a few holdouts here and there with no internet access.
To be "transhumanist" is part of being human and we're not the only species, there are many others who seek to transcend their limitations. The urge to enhance natural capabilities is much more interesting than the question of what "transhumanism" might mean.
colourmegone 1 year ago
it's way funner to think about shit that's not happening to us than to think about shit that is happening to us.. that's why i love reading about the revolution in Egypt.. but i hate reading about Obama trying not to drop the country.. I love thinking about Star Wars history.. I hate reading about fucking middle eastern history. depressing.
crotanger 1 year ago