Transhumanism |
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TRANSHUMANISM: 2. The intellectual and cultural movement that shares with humanism a commitment to human progress especially through applied reason rather than faith; it differs from humanism in affirming the possibility and desirability of fundamentally altering the human condition for the better, such as by using technology to eliminate aging and greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities. |
The basic idea of transhumanism is that we, as humans, can and should overcome our biological limits by using advanced science and technology. Freedom is the ultimate goal - freedom not only from personal, political, and social restrictions, but from biological limits imposed on us by the blind, undirected natural evolution: physical and mental weaknesses and flaws, diseases, aging, and, most importantly, death. Science and technology can bring us what people have dreamt of for millenia, and what religion has promised (without the slightest chance of realization): unlimited lifespan, eternal youth and health, intelligence increase, new senses, new impressions. What are the foundations for this conviction that we, as a species, can take over from nature and direct our evolution according to our own plans and desires? The following ideas and technologies might soon change humanity beyond recognition, making us transhuman on our way into a posthuman future: Genetic Engineering - mapping the human genome; replacing genes; adding new genes; engineering the human germline... Molecular Nanotechnology - manipulating matter atom by atom; building things on a molecular level (so called assemblers will do this); creating self-replicating assemblers (so called replicators); avoiding waste products in industrial production; healing diseases on the molecular level (nanomedicine); building tiny supercomputers ... Uploading - installing and running human minds on artificial hardware (i.e., not on the biological "wetware" - the brain) Artificial Intelligence - building thinking "machines"; automated problem solving & design; intelligence amplifiers for humans; computers do science ... Virtual Reality - creating artificial worlds for communication, research, recreation, art, etc.; building computer-brain interfaces ... Theory of self-organization & complex systems (cybernetics) - how do neural networks, brains, societies form themselves? how can they be influenced? Memetics - theory about the evolution & laws of ideas, concepts ... Cryonics - storing inanimate human bodies in liquid nitrogen for later nanotechnological repair and/or uploading ... and many more. Please note that this page is under construction, so come back later for more. Also, visit the Extropy Institute, the leading transhumanist organization. If you speak German, see also De:Trans (e.V.), the first transhumanist society in Germany. |
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