A Simple look at Transhumanism
Transhumanism is an odd thing I don’t think many of my friends (or my wifes for that matter) would know about.
Everyones first point of reference (Wikipedia) has the following to say about Transhumansim:
Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes, and ameliorate what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as stupidity, suffering, disease, aging and involuntary death.
Dang .. that’s not particularly clear.
This article however, Transhumanism as simplified humanism, I think does a good job of explaining things:
If you believe professional bioethicists (people who get paid to explain ethical judgments) then the rule “Life is good, death is bad; health is good, sickness is bad†holds only until some critical age, and then flips polarity. Why should it flip? Why not just keep on with life-is-good? It would seem that it is good to save a six-year-old girl, but bad to extend the life and health of a 150-year-old. Then at what exact age does the term in the utility function go from positive to negative? Why?
As far as a transhumanist is concerned, if you see someone in danger of dying, you should save them; if you can improve someone’s health, you should. There, you’re done. No special cases. You don’t have to ask anyone’s age.
You also don’t ask whether the remedy will involve only “primitive†technologies (like a stretcher to lift the six-year-old off the railroad tracks); or technologies invented less than a hundred years ago (like penicillin) which nonetheless seem ordinary because they were around when you were a kid; or technologies that seem scary and sexy and futuristic (like gene therapy) because they were invented after you turned 18; or technologies that seem absurd and implausible and sacrilegious (like nanotech) because they haven’t been invented yet. Your ethical dilemma report form doesn’t have a line where you write down the invention year of the technology. Can you save lives? Yes? Okay, go ahead. There, you’re done.
So .. Transhumanism is about saving lives and increasing health and intellect in individuals using technology. That’s much easier than shrouding things in complicated terms. Pacemakers are good, so are joint replacements ( I discussed this kind of tech in Cybernetics – Merging Man and Machine earlier) .. we don’t think about that kind of enhancement now, but stem cells and custom grown organs is still a bit freaky and new for most people. I guess that the current problem with this technology .. it’s still too new.
The above article talks about morality .. if you can save or help someone, then why not do it? Who cares what technology you use to do it.