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Transhumanism
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James, Group Founder
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Dec 05, 2018 05:22PM
Transhumanism (abbreviated as H+ or h+) is an international philosophical movement that advocates for the transformation of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellect and physiology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhu...
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Zoltan Istvan is a futurist, philosopher, journalist, author of #1 best-selling novel The Transhumanist Wager & 2016 US Presidential candidate for the Transhumanist Party (and he's running again in 2020).
Joe Rogan Experience #584 - Zoltan Istvan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9grWo...
The movie LUCY explores transhumanism:Lucy TRAILER 1 (2014) - Luc Besson, Scarlett Johansson Movie HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVt32...
Transhumanism has come to connote different things to different people, from a belief system to a cultural movement, a field of study to a technological fantasy. ... Its advocates believe in fundamentally enhancing the human condition through applied reason and a corporeal embrace of new technologies. http://theconversation.com/transhuman...
The effect of Transhumanism on religious belief:The relationship between life, death, immortality and time remains the centre piece for structured religious theology. However, exponential improvements in technology and the advent of new virtual and augmented realities now place humanity in the position creating our own sacred geometry – a digital universe bounded by bounded only by the mathematical ‘code’ of the machine. Conversely, innovations in medical science have seen dramatic improvements in both the general health and longevity of those fortunate enough to live in advanced Western societies. The instinct for extended personal survival is now dependent upon new technologies that may allow some people to cheat death just a little longer. These changes in medical practice, technology and within the greater social environment have impacted upon how we see ourselves and how the promise for some form of immortality is now within the reach of science.
How different religious faiths deal with this new reality will depend on their ability to adapt their beliefs to fit within a world dominated by what some scholars have termed the technocracy of the new age, whereby technology becomes the driver of all actions and decisions in a society. All forms of structured religion will need to be more transparent, less secretive and abandon any notions of magical intervention in their attempts to remain meaningful. If anything, the Twenty-first Century will be a period in history where the advancements of science and technology will impact directly on the evolutionary advancement of humanity. Transhumanism – the transformation of human intellect and physiology through enhancements in technology – will now almost certainly be part of humanities journey into this uncertain future. The abandonment of supernaturalism does not mean the abandonment of spirituality. Our imagination, sense of truth and beauty, compassion and our innate desire to and seek understanding of the world around us will play an even more important role in creating a meaningful life.
Iain wrote: "On a whole, it may be a dangerous thing to try to become god(s) our-self, here on earth. ..."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ae_...
p.s. Scottish accent seems apt for Ancient Egypt, don't you think?
The Transhuman Revolution: What it is and How to Prepare for its Arrival https://interestingengineering.com/th...We take a look at the rapid advance of Transhumanist technologies and where they might take us in the future.
Frankenstein 200 years later: are we finally living in a transhumanist world? http://www.documentjournal.com/2019/0...
Transhumanism: A Religion For Postmodern Times – OpEd https://www.eurasiareview.com/2812201...
Transhumanist prophets anticipate a coming neo-salvific event known as the “Singularity”
Humans are set to become ships of Theseus!
Iain wrote: "Harry wrote: "Humans are set to become ships of Theseus!"The 'elephant in the room' Harry, is to what extent will the human body be replaced or NEED to be replaced?
I've got a feeling this might..."
I watched that vid - thanks for posting - and I agree with a lot of what he says (other than his baffling comments that women and foreigners can be scary...) but I don't see how his comments mean transhumanism is a myth.
Given enough time (it's irrelevant if we're talking hundreds, thousands or even millions of years), there's no reason why every part of our bodies, including our brains, could not potentially be "replaced"...
Personally, I believe we "have soul" (for want of better words), so that conjures up plenty of other tangents.
Iain wrote: "Why are wealthy and respected leaders in technology and the sciences sponsoring research that threatens to exterminate human life?..."To get rid of the "useless eaters"!
Iain wrote: "I hope that part can never be mapped or even explored to any meaningful degree that could allow meddling, so we humans remain distinct from any bastardised Frankenstein robot created" Me too!
Iain wrote: "A.I. To Allow Humans To Communicate TelepathicallyWe previously reported that a company called Kernel is developing technology that gives humans super-intelligence. Now Kernel says that the technology will also enable humans to communicate telepathically by implanting microchips in their brains...."
Any person who signs up to have their brains implanted with microchips deserves to be lobotomized!
With that outfit and haircut, and an antenna sticking out his head, he must be a real babe magnet...
The transhuman people of the future and I mean far future, do not even perceive themselves as human anymore. The human population still exist as low life forms which were born from unsuccessful ancestors. Only the super rich will experience transhuman in its perfect embodiment. The majority of society will live as floppy disks; old and obsolete hardware that is too poor to transcend again. Transhumanism will bring forth a new class system as not everyone will be reborn equally. Therefore, not all of us will evolve.
My vision of the future is a peculiar one. The only utopian societies springing forth from a species that is immortal are false utopias created on a simulation. The real world itself is no doubt dystopian; old values never die when ancient minds live forever. There is a class system already in our world during our time with consumer goods. Some brands are more expensive than others. Seven hundred years in the future that model will still exist but our soul will the product. A few at the top with many below, that’s the only system I can envision.
Iain wrote: "Peter Xing - The iPhone 20— A roadmap for how smart devices can integrate with our bodies by 2029 and how Apple can stay relevant over the next decadehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFy7D..."
Great...that sounds like fun...have an iPhone inside your brain or body!
Iain Wrote: “Here's the conundrum though: would some welcome or embrace this outcome if advancements got to the point that the experience of virtual reality rivalled or exceeded anything comparable in reality, and were happy and content to live life out in a simulated bliss without care, even while fully-aware that behind the scenes their rights or lives were potentially being eroded, suppressed, exploited or manipulated in the real world? Almost like those, who, while feeling helpless and have accepted their lot in life, take or rely on drugs as a form of escapism?”
You hit it right on the head.
However, you don’t have to wait for the future to see your premise come true because it already has begun. I have been selling technology for twenty-three years and never has there been an addicted hysteria over any piece of tech like a smartphone. If a customer breaks their device and hasn’t the money to replace it; their reaction is similar to telling them that I need to amputate their arm. I never saw that level of a craze in the ’90s with humanity in regards to the technology of that day. We have already started re-wiring our minds into a collective hive state to stew separation anxiety that festers when you are removed from the flock.
As for the realm of time, I have been pondering and often visiting, all those truths are there. Humanity splinters with the majority having transcended, and a very few have exceeded to be seen as gods. The few that continue to be unplugged; that biologic muck is regarded as a subspecies of humanity.
The drug of escapism is prevalent even this far in the future, but that drug is already pumping through our veins today. This toxin is re-engineering our minds making the transition to transhuman a given right for this new species of Homo sapiens.
That's why you only ever hire those AI dolls for one night, mate!Katy Perry's doll character is an example of what can go wrong long-term!
Great interview. An extremely sound-minded and optimistic idealist. I liked how he was pressed with the question on our purpose once immortality is achieved. Does an immortal species, with no purpose in life, rediscover the desire of wanting to die again?
His Bill of Rights is intriguing as a post-singularity contingency. However, if Americans today can't even get behind universal healthcare for all as a biological right; I don't see much traction in his movement to those that have fully transcended. Also, our society is already predicated towards a non-universal system of ideals; that's his most significant hurdle to overcome.
Overall, Zoltan's vision is so harmonic to the ear that it's unfortunate we are a species that as a whole chooses not to listen to that which we have no control over, and perhaps never will.
Iain wrote: "Are Human Beings Robots? | Interview with Dr. Rupert SheldrakeWhat is a human being? It is the ultimate question, to which institutional science offers surprising answers. The materialistic parad..."
If Sheldrake is right that consciousness is something more than the brain, then don't expect singularity or humans to be replaced by another "consciousness" anytime this millennium!
Tom Cruise's character in Oblivion...AI underestimated...
Iain wrote: "That's the other part that AI might underestimate: facets of neuroplasticity and adaption"Yep.
Hopefully there are enough John Connors to fight back...
Iain wrote: "Who knows though,we might not make it. It might end up like this in the future insteadhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBD30..."
There was a lot of water wastage in that scene...
The guy with fire coming out of his guitar?
car stereos are not as cinematic, I assume
Transhumanism: AI could figure out how to make humans live forever https://www.artificialintelligence-ne...
I think the way of immortal in the future might be very different from what being perceived by most people. Like the separation of mind and body, more specifically, maybe brain could be simulated by computer programs, every individual has an unique mind simulating program, therefore human can exist beyond the limit of biology, corresponding to Rene Decartes' [I think, therefore I am] mind-body dualism. Its not necessarily a bad thing tho.
Iain wrote: "i think there's a distinction between the ability to create an IDEA of an individual based on past history, than actually recreating that individual with an accurate representation of their future ..."Definitely. One could be soulless (either figuratively or literally) or consciousnessless and the other could be your real self.
So do you think that's the catch with these ideas of transhumanist immortality? i.e. futurists and transhumanists are really only proposing they map your brain and that capture of your neural pathways can exist forever in some virtual world, but it's not your total self?
All goes back to AI discussion thread and AI group poll where everything the transhumanists are proposing hinges on the belief or certainty that the brain represents whatever consciousness is...and all you have to therefore do is replicate or capture whatever the brain is of each person...If so, I think I can save them a lot of time and money by telling them to give up now if all they are focused on is the brain!
Iain wrote: "The Eureka moment might take longer, but it'll happen . . . ."Not so sure
Sounds to me like we gonna get Einstein's brain rather than Einstein...
All goes back to whether everything exists in the brain or even the body.If the origin of consciousness is non-local, then it seems to me to all these ideas like singularity and AI replacing humans etc are transhumanist end goals are a joke.
Iain wrote: "Banned TEDTalk about Psychic Abilities | Russell Targ | suespeaks.orgRussell Targ is a physicist who spent several decades working in a US government program exploring "remote viewing" - an appar..."
Pretty sure Russell is a member of this group (will have to check).
If so, hopefully he replies to your questions, Iain.
Iain wrote: "New Experiments Show Consciousness Affects Matter ~ Dean Radin Ph Dhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge23K..."
We are slowly catching up to our ancestors in this regard...
Iain wrote: "New Experiments Show Consciousness Affects Matter ~ Dean Radin Ph Dhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge23K..."
Wait a minute, Lowlander...how does that relate to transhumanism?!
Iain wrote: "Wrong forum mate. But, with that said, the subject of consciousness, I feel, will become more and more pivotal to this technology as it progresses in development."
Maybe it was a glitch in the matrix...You are not the One, Neo...
Speaking of that film, what do you think The Matrix says about transhumanism? Was it a commentary of that subject, or is it more to do with the potential of the human mind? Or both?
Here's a little excerpt from my new release book Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed? that briefly mentions transhumanism:Are we messing with a necessary evolutionary process by changing the wild strains into mutated strains and/or vaccine strains? Have we created enemies out of what used to be, for the most part, our friends?
Germs have been strengthening our immune system throughout human history. It wasn’t until relatively recently we started injecting ourselves with substances to prevent them from doing their job.
This is a brand-new way of dealing with incoming unknowns that don’t fit the way our immune system evolved. And this new method is bypassing a system as old as Mankind, so we have to expect there will be some kind of adverse reaction.
We can’t help but wonder if we keep introducing antigens to our bodies in this manner, where will this new evolutionary path take us? And will vaccinations, and the modern immunization process in general, ultimately be classified as a transhumanist methodology? Transhumanist in that this experimental approach is attempting to use science and technology to evolve the human race beyond its current physical limitations or weaknesses, which is after all the definition of transhumanism.
They say keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. What if the germs are the enemy? How close should we keep them?
Well, germs have been strengthening our immune system throughout human history. (Hopefully, we’ve successfully gotten that message across by now). It wasn’t until relatively recently we started injecting ourselves with substances to prevent germs from doing their job.
Vaccinations are, in evolutionary terms at least, a brand new way of dealing with incoming unknowns that don’t fit the way our immune system evolved. And this new methodology is bypassing a system as old as Mankind itself, so we have to expect there will be adverse reactions of some kind from time to time.
We cannot help but wonder...
If we keep introducing antigens to our bodies in this manner, where will this new evolutionary path take us?
Scareeeee!Skin-deep microchips pave the way for ‘transhumanism’ http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ2...
Human 2.0 Is Almost Here: The Transhumanism Agenda Just Went Mainstream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsTYO...
Yeah, magnetite is interesting.Another thing I'm wondering with this whole subject: Will there also be trans-animalism? Using tech to further animals? Super animals, I guess? And if so, will that influence transhumanism? Super humans vs Super Animals? Or Super Humans/Super Animals vs Robots?!
I just briefly looked up trans-animalism, and it is a real thing they are talking about.So if humans really evolve from apes, might it be possible to force evolve apes now to human level intelligence?
What's happened to DW, mate? Have you seen him lately?#Treadstone
Human 2.0 Is Almost Here: The Transhumanism Agenda Just Went Mainstream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsTYO...
A great 'truth stream' link thanks James. The invention of photography and film gave us the ability to view history without the filter imposed by a historian. Paradoxically, improvements in this medium now give the rulers the ability to create reality. Strange days....
I think there is something at play Iain. There may indeed be a superior intelligence that permeates the universe and that this divine presence exists in all living things. Like the ancient heretical dream of illumination, a pantheist vision of the divine rests upon the idea of evolution as a progressive and natural force that will ultimately result in the perfection of humanity—the Omega point and the perfect squaring of the circle. The most ‘evolved’ component of this pantheist vision of the divine resides within the confines of the human mind and is independent of the confines of linear space and time. As Richard Dawkins declares with regards to his ‘God hypothesis’:"any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to design anything, comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution. Creative intelligences, being evolved, necessarily arrive late in the universe, and therefore cannot be responsible for designing it. God, in this sense defined, is a delusion and, as later chapters will show, a pernicious delusion."
Ironically, Dawkins in his comprehensive dismissal of organised religion as a man-made construct may have given us a pathway for the ultimate perfection of humanity. Dawkins is a strong believer in evolution as a process where organisms become increasingly complex over time. This premise infers that evolution is not only adaptive to different environments but that it is also a progressive force increasing in complexity towards some form of material perfection. Charles Darwin himself boldly proclaimed that "natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporal and mental endowments will tend to progress towards perfection’.".
If as Einstein suggests, time itself is relative, then what we achieve in this life impacts on events across space and time. This idea may give further credence to Teilhard’s vision of a spiritual faith that purses perfection at the omega point. When Einstein was told of the death of a close friend, he replied:
"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For us believing physicists, the distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion’.
What a great clip ! haven't seen that one. Both Dawkins and Hitch are wary of Pantheism. Hitchens somewhat embraces it, Dawkins rejects it. That said, I think Dawkins is very complicated. I have now read most of his work. Interestingly in his latest book he declares that a pantheistic vision of God is problematic when discussing the relevance and role of religion. He therefore purposely directs his argument towards the man-made structures that have been created to
disseminate religious dogma. He does not argue against a
person’s right to be a ‘spiritual being’. He has even advocated
the possibility for some sort of reconciliation between atheists
and their Christian brothers:
‘Atheists for Jesus’ could celebrate the unselfish moral teachings of the human Jesus. ‘I think we owe Jesus the honour of separating his genuinely original and radical ethics from the supernatural nonsense that he inevitably espoused as a man of his time’.
Dawkins also has an interesting take on the term 'intelligent design'. For him, it means the human manipulation of genetic material to create new versions of us. What if the ultimate state of play is the creation of an immortal Trans- human species that at sometime in the future implants a genetic code back in time to intentionally seed humanity with an evolutionary end point. (Goldilocks!) God from God....
Iain wrote: "Tony wrote: "What a great clip ! haven't seen that one. Both Dawkins and Hitch are wary of Pantheism. Hitchens somewhat embraces it, Dawkins rejects it. That said, I think Dawkins is very complicat..."I think he is hell bent (sorry for the pun) on the destruction of organised religion. the introduction of an alternative 'abstract divine essence' complicates the argument. Atheists don't want to know about it and the Church labels it a heresy.
Underground Knowledge — A discussion group
Books mentioned in this topic
The Transhumanist Wager (other topics)Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed? (other topics)
