Unpopular opinion: overcoming our biological limitations is a distinguishing feature of humanity. Ever since our hominid ancestors first carved hand axes, tamed fire, and worn animal skins, we have been transforming our natural environment and ourselves in a virtuous cycle of improvement.
Transhumanism is humanism.
You may be retarded. Like seriously.
Highly regarded
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It’s possible that I don’t understand what people mean by “transhumanism”. Often people attach different meanings to words.
I tend to think people mean the act of augmenting the body by technological means. Does it mean something else?
I mean to reject what, say, Yuval Harari (sp?) promotes. Partially because it's dumb and immoral, but also because he's a psychopath.
I’m no fan of Harari either. To me, he’s not transhumanist so much as anti-humanist.
That’s the same thing Jimbo. Same exact thing. Don’t go fully Tranny, never go full tranny.
CBDC could also be a form of transhumanism if you want to go wider.
Be better. You are forgiven so far.
Harari’s view, IIRC, is couched in a scarcity frame. Something like: resources are finite, therefore humanity must be downsized to fit. Then, motivated by this morality, he advocates technological means of carrying it out. Technological means of limitation, control, and in a word, death.
My moral view and baseline assumptions are opposite. Resources are incomprehensibly vast. We’ve only scratched the surface of what this world can provide, let alone the rest of the solar system. We should be doing all we can to increase the number of people and increase their quality of life. History shows that capitalism (private property, consensual exchange) is the engine which brings this about.
Technology is the natural extension of our biological bodies into the environment. We invent and use tools to become more than we were. Whether those tools pierce the body envelope, and whether they are merely rehabilitative vs cosmetic vs enhancements isn’t a crucial moral issue (to me).
The moral issue is whether such technologies are chosen. That is, that participants self-select by informed consent. Coercion and scarcity are the enemies, not technology.
Transgenderism is the prototypical transhumanism. The philosophical move of transhumanism is to separate the "I" from the body. Once you do that, anything is fair game if you wish to transcend the body for the sake of the disembodied mind or self.
Arguably, brain-augmenting implants aren't transhumanism, but mind uploading definitely is.
The cat-in-the-box theory, whether full or empty, depends on you. The goal is 5 million, but the choice between the full or empty box is yours.
Solana.....
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don't you think that going back to X twitter donating isn't fraud asking isn't a crime freedom of opinion commenting if your report bans me the project loses its meaning
Actualizing natural, latent potencies is quite different than artificially augmenting them. I'm not talking about using tools on our environment, or even on ourselves to restore health--I'm talking about brain chips, grasping for immortality, freezing our heads, etc.
Hubris is not knowing our place--intruding into the realm of the divine. "...and ye shall be as gods," hissed the Serpent.
Let’s take the example of brain chips. By this I presume you mean neural implants that either communicate with the outside world, or enhance cognition in some way. (If you mean something else, correct me as it’s not my intent to straw man).
Glasses or contact lenses are external aids that enhance perception. Hearing aids are even better examples because they have an internal/surgical component.
We don’t think of these things as transhumanist, but I suspect that’s because they’ve existed for a long time (familiarity) and they’re considered assistive rather than excessive. That is, they bring the user up to par, rather than putting them ahead.
There are technologies to increase kinds of cognition. Calculators aid in arithmetic. A person with a calculator far outperforms a person without. But we don’t think of this as transhumanist because the device resides outside of the body envelope.
My position is that the body envelope is not the special case people seem to think it is. As soon as the enhancement in question is to alleviate a disability or illness, we’re OK with considering internal remedies. We’re even OK considering internal remedies for cosmetic effect (breast augmentation, liposuction, etc.)
It seems odd to me that people are OK with cognitive enhancements that are technological and external (calculators), pharmaceutical and internal (caffeine), but not technological and internal (brain chips).
Note: I’m not saying I personally would volunteer for a brain chip. Just that I have no problem with other people doing so with informed consent. To me it’s not categorically different from other internal/external cognitive/adaptive/cosmetic interventions.
Using tech to correct is one thing. Using tools to increase producticity is another. Using either to attempt to transcend our nature is yet another thing (named hubris). It can be hard to draw lines between them, and sometimes it's more about the intent than the tool or tech itself.
I believe in such a thing as human nature, that it was given, and that whenever we try to transgress the natural order, that hubris is met with retribution and tragedy. This is one of the more important lessons, I believe, not only from Graeco-Roman, but also Judeo-Chrsitian, heritage--which is to say, from Western Civilazation as a whole.
Transhumanism, as I understand it, is by definition the goal of crossing the line of what it means to be human--because it's "not enough."
I guess my interpretation of hubris is different. To me, hubris is over-evaluating one’s abilities. Overconfidence. Someone who is crushed by an opponent because they over-extended their resources foolishly I would call “brought down by hubris”.
Striving to improve I would not call hubris. It’s like working out. You work out to improve—to get stronger, to feel better in your body. It’s not hubris to think that improvement is possible or desirable (IMO).
I'm all for stewardship, achievement, improvement, striving for excellence--but within the proper bounds of my given nature. Daedalus and Icarus -- hubris. Telemachus striving to outdo his mother's suitors in the games while Odysseus was away - growth, achievement, victory. 🤙🏼
