Transhumanism and Its Critics

Cybernetics calls to mind a series of familiar images that turn out on closer inspection to be highly doubtful.

Cybernetic immortality is the idea that we can achieve a sort of immortality by downloading (or uploading) our consciousness into a computer.

Transhumanists assume that progress is inherent in nature and culture. The direction is set; the task of transhumanist technology is to increase the speed forward.

The issues of the human, the posthuman and the transhuman revolve around distinctive narratives, and these are often highly slippery.

Ted Peters and others have reminded us of some trite truths about technology, and that the reminder may serve as a reality check for transhumanists

The central issue now is the actuality of altering the human form is practicable, duplicating the mind is probable, and extending life is feasible.

The prospect of posthumanity is feared for at least two reasons. One is that the state of being posthuman might in itself be degrading. Another is that posthumans might pose a threat to “ordinary” humans.

Transhumanism does not say we will create posthumans, rather, it makes a moral claim: We ought to create posthumans. Creating posthumans is our best bet for avoiding harm.

Cybernetics may very well offer a means for expanding the human being.

The transhumans or posthumans we may become may quite possibly share our current DNA, but technologies and cultural practices are likely to gradually render our chromosomes almost vestigial components of our individual and species identity.

In narratives of human existence, technology often plays a dual role as a catalyst of the human subject’s actions towards a fulfilling existence, or as an enemy of social cohesion and the preservation of culture.

Aging is inarguably the most prevalent medically relevant phenomenon in the modern world and the primary ultimate target of biomedical research.