HumanPlus Blog: Top Transhuman Trends and Stories 2009 Saturday, Jan 2 2010
technology and transhumanism 2:49 pm
Eric Tatro at the HumanPlus blog has a nice roundup of the top transhumanist-relevant trends and stories of 2009: part one and part two. Here’s the headers:
1. Rise of the Smartphone
2. Useful Augmented Reality
3. Transhuman Films Hit the Festival Circuit
4. Progress in Advanced Prosthetics
5. Improved Gene Therapy
6. Commitment to Artificial Intelligence Research
7. Radical Longevity (somewhat) goes Mainstream
8. Advancements in Generating Power
With regard to #7, this year I came to wager that the odds are probably in favor of the pro life extensionists. I think the battle in favor of personal autonomy and life extension still needs to be fought, I just believe that the ultimate chance of success is quite high (as long as we don’t blow ourselves up first), given what I’ve seen over the last decade, and what various online and offline polls have reported.
Smart phone will link to body monitor that tracks various levels (blood pressure, LDL, HDL, etc.) and alerts the subject to any anomalous reading.
I’ve noticed that many of my friends and contacts treat my excitement about longevity research with much less skepticism than they did even a year or six months ago. I still run up against the “death is a part of life” group, but, like religious fundamentalists, you can’t argue with those people, and it is doubtful that you can change their mind.
Life extension will just sort of enter our collective ideological acceptance, the way some stem cell therapies have, the way space travel has, etc. I don’t see it as a sudden “wow” moment as much as a slow fact of life.
I’ve got the impression that somatic gene therapy is making progress and slowly recovers from it’s early setbacks.
This is in so far important since somatic gene therapy is essential for bringing forth any radical life-extension technology (like SENS). I would argue that once there are means to transduce body cells safely, stably and with the necessary efficiency biological immortality is within reach.
I’m encouraged by how respectfully the media have been treating Aubrey de Grey lately. It’s hard to argue against incremental advances that help suffering people. On the other hand, plenty still react to the notion of an indefinite human lifespan with disgust. Talk of immortality takes this rejection to another level. When and if rejuvenation therapy appears, I predict we’ll have a considerable cultural contest on our hands.
Perhaps… but we’ll win. :)
Maybe. Reviewing the history of medical intervention has made me more skeptical than I used to be. The great modern increases in life expectancy have more to do with improving sanitation and nutrition than anything administered by doctors. The medical profession has an awfully checkered record. To get from the current reality of incompetence and corruption to Aubrey de Grey’s dream of universal rejuvenation therapy will take a quantum leap. I’m certain it’s physically possible, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be able to do it anytime soon. Sadly, John Smart might well prove correct about the limitations of biotechnology.