What is Transhumanism?
Michael Anissimov :: December 2005

Transhumanism is a philosophical extension of humanism. An upgrade, if you will. Type "define: humanism" into Google and you get plenty of definitions, here are the first three:

• The new emphasis in the Renaissance on human culture, education and reason, sparked by a revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman literature, culture, and language. Human nature and the dignity of man were exalted and emphasis was placed on the present life as a worthy event in itself (as opposed to the medieval emphasis on the present life merely as preparation for a future life).
  www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm
  
• A cultural and intellectual movement during the Renaissance, following the rediscovery of the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. A philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements, and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology or science.
  www.ackland.org/tours/classes/glossary.html
  
• the system of philosophy based upon human reason, actions, and motives without concern of deity or supernatural phenomena.
  www.carm.net/atheism/terms.htm

Life in most of the United States and Europe is dominated by humanist philosophy. In business and public affairs, religious persons are generally expected to understand and cater to the humanist outlook even if they don't believe it personally. Humanism continues to spread in developed countries, eating up ground previously occupied by religious philosophies.

Transhumanism is like humanism, but more inclusive. Instead of regarding human beings as the final word of life, intelligence, civilization, culture, and complexity, transhumanism embraces a future where persons have evolved beyond the boundaries of what we would traditionally consider "human". Artificial Intelligences, cyborgs, augmented animals, you name it, transhumanists have considered the possibility. A future with a huge diversity of persons possessing extreme choice over the structure of their bodies and brains - this is a future that many transhumanists are working toward.

Some people have remarked that we may already be transhuman. Nearly everyone wears clothes, drives a car to work, uses a computer, eats plants and animals produced by centuries of artificial selection, keeps in touch with a cell phone... the list goes on. None of these things are "natural". But they can make our lives better, so we use them.

There are good artificial things, like toothpaste and antibiotics. There are bad artificial things, like nukes. There are good natural things, like the petals of a rose. There are bad natural things, like malaria. Calling something "natural" doesn't necessarily mean it's good, and calling something "artificial" doesn't necessarily mean it degrades us.

Our technology is becoming ever more subtle, miniaturized, and effective. Eventually (within a few decades), it will match and then surpass life itself in these qualities. Cheap, implantable hearing aids will be available which make audible a wider range of frequences at softer volumes than the human ear. Computing devices have evolved from room-sized to desktop to laptop to palmtop, and they will continue to evolve into wearables and then implantables. Retinal displays will project data directly onto our retinas, making external displays unnecessary. Microscopic robots more effective than white blood cells will be injected into our bloodstreams, attacking malignant bacteria and repairing the cellular damage of aging.

Unless we completely blow ourselves up or the technological base disintegrates, these technologies will eventually come to pass. We will synergize with our technology seamlessly, and it will vastly improve our quality of life. Certain technological improvements will further amplify our ability to develop and perfect additional technologies, causing a feedback effect.

Transhumanists argue that most observers underestimate the likely speed and intensity of coming technological changes because most have an "intuitive linear" model of progress rather than a "historical exponential" model. The "intuitive linear" model suggests that most people expect about as much change to occur in their child's life as occurred in their own life. So, according to this model, the period of time between 2000 - 2050 would experience about as much change as 1950 - 2000.

The problem with the intuitive linear model is that it isn't historically accurate. Technological and scientific progress are continuously accelerating. The world population is continuously doubling, people are better educated, there are better tools, and so on. Each new decade brings many more advances than the last. The period of time between 2000 and 2010 will see a number of advances characteristic of a longer time period.

Because of the acceleration of technological progress, we should begin seeing transhumanistic advances in the next couple decades. When these advances begin arriving, they won't come at a linear rate, but rather at an exponential one. Stuff we consider "far out but possible" will quickly become reality, and then be followed by stuff we can't even imagine.

World Transhumanist Association

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