http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/faq.html
If you read this blog regularly, you’ve almost certainly heard of transhumanism. Of course this is the idea that Homo sapiens is merely a stepping stone in the evolutionary process and if we can use technology to make ourselves smarter, happier, wiser, kinder, longer-lived, and disease-free, then by all means we should. In this sense, “technology” is not this foreign agency impinging upon us, but merely the continuation of evolution via other means. As technology gets better, it becomes less like a set of static tools and more like an organic, adaptive extension of our minds and bodies. That is to say, more like elegant sorcery and less like the rusty abominations of yesteryear.
There are millions of people around the globe who think of technology in this way, and embrace a future where humanity is more intimately connected with our technological appendages. However, there are many important ideas, movements, and people that these millions are unexposed to because they are not familiar with “transhumanism” as such. This is something that transhumanists like myself are trying to change, by reaching out a hand and saying “join the discussion, and familiarize yourself with the philosophical cutting edge”.
Transhumanism is what happens when people grow up and realize that human beings are not evolution’s final say, but merely a prologue in a much greater and longer chapter of existence. When people realize that God is a fairy tale, and that the next breakthrough coming from the labs holds greater significance than the next candidate voted into office. Politicians and laypeople everywhere are beginning to get the picture – it matters less what you say than what technology you have at your disposal. This is why presidential speeches are peppered with mentions of the importance of alternative energy and the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Good technology improves the lives of millions and bad technology has the potential to murder millions. Social ideas are merely a footnote. This viewpoint is extremely controversial but could not be better-supported.
We’re programmed by our genes to overfocus on social ideas. In the environment where our ancestors spent 99.99% of their evolutionary history, paying attention to social ideas could mean the difference between life and death, passing on your genes or taking them to your grave. But technology pretty much stayed the same through thousands of generations. Not today. Social ideas change fast, but technology changes faster.
This transhumanist movement – or rather, family of movements – tries to anticipate what will happen when technology wraps back around its creators and allows us to effortlessly customize every aspect of our selves and surroundings. When technology allows us to experience new sensations and worlds directly, without the clumsy medium of an electronic device. Transhumanism is certainly not speculative. It is not necessarily futuristic. It is an ongoing process that can be seen in headlines daily, and has a history that stretches back to the story of Icarus and before.
Although people have been dreaming about it in the abstract for milennia, the philosophy of transhumanism was formally kickstarted in the early 80s by a small group of right-leaning, well-educated futurists who either attended or hung around the University of California, Los Angeles. You might be visualizing some socially inept, pizza-faced WASPs playing Atari in their parents’ basement, but the original transhumanists were anything but. Fereidoun Esfandiary, the son of an Iranian diplomat who had lived in 17 countries by the time he turned eleven, a futurist and author in his early 50s, was central to the foundation of the movement. Then there was Nastasha Vita-More, a bodybuilder, model, and revolutionary artist who produced the cable TV show “TransCentury UPdate” which garnered over 100,000 viewers. Max More, at the time a philosophy student, went on to acquire a Ph.D and be invited to debate cryonics on CNN’s Crossfire program, among other media appearances.
Continue researching prominent transhumanists and you will not easily find adherents whose boyfriend or girlfriend’s name ends in .jpeg or whose greatest accomplishment was selling their level 60 Everquest character for $700. We’re talking about the father of the multibillion-dollar field of nanotechnology. The co-founder of Paypal, which was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. A columnist for the New York Times. A pioneer in the field of space tourism. The record-holder for academic achievement in Sweden. Perfect SAT scorers, five-sigma geniuses, graduates from the best universities on the planet.
To the casual observer, these tens of thousands of thinkers may look unrelated to one another. They’re spread across a hundred different fields and interests – computer security, philosophy, electronic music, journalism, neuroscience, aging research, aerospace, sculpture, robotics, law, and so many more. But behind the scenes, they are communicating and bringing their futurist vision to fruition through the hearts and minds of millions of technophiles and armchair philosophers, many of which are transhumanists but just don’t know it yet.
Collectively, the above logos represent nine non-profits, six media outlets, six blogs, two print magazines, two cryonics companies, one AI company, a philosophical journal, an artistic movement, and a music lab. And this is just scratching the surface – there are thousands of transhumanists who are part of the community but not specifically affiliated with any particular organization. These individuals drift from org to org like gluons in an atomic nucleus, minimizing clique-ishness and maximizing the free flow of ideas and skepticism. Despite the far-out nature of some of the subject matter, the formation of a cult dynamic is neigh impossible because the communication is primarily virtual and there are about as many transhumanist creeds as there are transhumanists. There has long been talk of a transhumanist political party, but most transhumanists seem to think that inventing stuff is a better approach than playing politics.
The movement has experienced its most rapid growth in the last six years. Thousands of people giving millions of dollars in donations to support dozens of causes and intiatives through a handful of non-profits. These intiatives range from working towards a cure for aging to developing molecular machinery to theoretical work for self-improving Artificial Intelligence. It is a wonderful tapestry of highly enthusiastic intellectuals who love to look towards the future but have their feet firmly planted in the present.
Transhumanism’s exponential progress in recent years is so astounding to me that I would like to write a short book about it, and self-publish if necessary. If you want to help with consulting, research, or sponsorship, don’t hesitate to give a shout.
For more pictures of transhumanists in their natural habitat, check out the album from ImmInst’s 2005 conference.
14 Responses »
