Transhumanism - Seraphim Sherman - Section 13

Transhumanism - Seraphim Sherman - Section 13

According to Max Moore, “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.” Essentially, transhumanists would like to use technology to surpass current human limitations. Transhumanist thinking has been around for a while, the word “cyborg” was first used in the 1960s by scientist Manfred Clynes, who used it to “describe imagined beings with both artificial and biological parts.” The transhumanist movement has been slightly popularized by popular culture. In the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, you play the mechanically augmented Adam Jensen. Technology pushed him past his human limits. In the DC universe, there is Cyborg, whose entire power set comes from the fact that his body was augmented with technology. Humans are doing pretty good right now, but couldn’t we be doing better?

Humanity+

Humanity+ is one of the leading transhumanist organizations. Founded by Nick Bostrom and David Pearce, Humanity+ “advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities. In other words, we want people to be better than well.” One of the main worries, which Dr. Oliver has discussed, is the loss of humanity after a certain point of implementing technology into people. At what point do we risk losing our humanity? As with any technology, there is always an ethical aspect. What can you do to a person before it becomes unethical? Natasha Vita-More believes that “Technologies that intervene with human physiology for curing disease and repairing injury have accelerated to a point in which they also can increase human performance outside the realms of what is considered to be “normal” for humans.” There are already drugs, medicines, and technology that increase humans past the typical human limitations, but there becomes a danger once technology and humans start to merge.

CRISPR


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY

One such technology that could be used to further human advancement is CRISPR. Essentially, scientists have discovered a method to use CRISPR to program and change genomes, whether through adding, deleting, or replacing genes. CRISPR could be used for extreme good; diseases could be eradicated, hereditary defects removed, and good traits inserted. However, the main points that are brought up against CRISPR are its potential to be used to eugenics and the price tag for it. People are worried that CRISPR will be used to not just cure diseases, but also to change the appearance of a person. There are also worries that only the ultra-wealthy will have the capital to use CRISPR, thus they would create a race of “super babies.”

Pop Culture



Transhumanism has always been a theme in science fiction. The Cybermen, a race of cyborgs, are one of the recurring villains in Doctor Who. Their first appearance was in 1966 and they still appear to this day. While not purely transhumanist, they represent the transhumanist philosophy of becoming better humans, which the cybermen claim to be. In the brutal fighting game Mortal Kombat, Kano has a cybernetic eye which allows him to see in the dark and shoot lasers. He used technology to make himself better. In Stellaris, a game about space-faring civilizations, there is the option to “upgrade” your people entirely into synthetic beings. While that is significantly further than most transhumanists desire, it still exemplifies their philosophy. The text for this upgrade reads “It is time to abandon the flawed organic vessels that imprison our minds. By transferring our neural patterns into synthetic bodies, we will achieve a higher state of being.” Transhumanists would argue that we should simply use technology to fix the “flawed organic vessels,” but they still believe that mechanical or technological implementation is necessary for humans to reach the next step in our evolution.

My Thoughts

Personally, I love the transhumanist philosophy. I don’t think that we should go so far as to completely replace humans with robots or synthetic creatures, but I do believe that technology should be used for the bettering of the human form. There are too many good things that can come from cybernetics or bionics or any mechanical improvements. Imagine being able to make yourself stronger by getting a bionic arm, or make yourself faster by getting a bionic leg. However, there is a very slippery slope that comes with any large technological leap like this. If you can use it positively, then you can use it negatively. There’s also the ethics to think of. Bioethicists are not exactly chomping at the bit to deem human augmentation ethical. It’s simply something fascinating to think about until it becomes ethical. If it becomes ethical.

Quiz Questions:

What is the leading transhumanist organization?

What is one of the risks of CRISPR?

What is an example of transhumanism in popular culture?


Discussion Questions:

Do you think transhumanism is a practical philosophy?

Is transhumanism an ethical practice? Specifically in relation to mechanical augmentation of the human form.

At what point does someone lose their humanity?


Posts I commented on:
https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2019/12/forgiveness.html?showComment=1575743098549#c7848406061352156191

https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2019/12/lena-russomanno-section-12-knowledge-or.html?showComment=1575743374804#c4071933846043054692

Sources

https://whatistranshumanism.org/

https://humanityplus.org/about/mission/

http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/cyborg

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d7yzmm/geneticists-are-concerned-transhumanists-will-use-crispr-on-themselves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberman