Transhumanism and you

[BangSmashBoom]

What is Transhumanism There are a lot of things about this movement but basically its another quest for Immortality a persons consciousness downloaded into a robot and later he would download into a giant server think of a movie like the Matrix or TRON a virtual world that is limited to only your imagination but with no body to go back to.

Some people oppose the Idea some embrace it some say it?s unnatural and it?s against God?s will some say it?s the next logical step in evolution some say that it does not matter whether it?s right or wrong it?s going to happen either way and it?s important for us to become a superior race before the robots do like the movie terminator.

Some people have predicted that this Transhumanism process can happen as soon as the year 2040.

I?ve been doing lots of research on this topic and I am trying to write a page on this that approaches this from a neutral perspective so if you could give your perspective on this that would be great.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Is it possible? Yes. In 2040? I doubt it. I personally take a huge interest in myoelectric prosthesis, these are robotic arms that send and receive nerve impulses from the human brain to control movement and give feedback. So far this is incredibly difficult. The brain is VERY complicated. The strength of a charge at what frequency for how long decides what image or feeling is sent to the brain. And while our efforts in interpreting charges sent from the brain are very promising and allow for very controlled robotic arm and hand movement I dont think ive seen much in the way of a computer being able to message back in any way that isnt pretty crude.

The input from a robotic eye for example would need to be complex to the extreme to resemble the vision you are used to now. The best and most expensive example today can send a simple black and white lines only image to the human brain. And its pretty damn foggy. Simply put the brain expects very precise information back and we just dont know accurately enough every nuance to send it "proper" messages like vision or other senses. Until we can do that its going to be almost impossible to save a conciousness since we will need to recreate the brains electrical activity with electrical components. The two areas are intertwined because the better we can make our prosthesis the more understanding we can gain of the inner workings of the brains communication. When we master that we can attempt to recreate it entirely and then perhaps have a platform for human conciousness.

 

[Esotera]

Transhumanism is all about enhancing humanity's abilities beyond what is natural, it doesn't necessarily have to involve future technology. Given that life expectancy has doubled from what it was 50 years ago & we can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world using a smartphone, it's very easy to say we are already transhuman by ancient standards.

The application of technology needs to be thought through a lot more & designed so that it actually benefits the user. There's lots of stuff out there that is built to screw the end-user (I'll pick the Xbox 180's DRM as an example) and make profits at their expense.

 

[Nickolai77]

Will transhumanism give people the ability to use basic punctuation in their posts? If so i'm all up for it.

Transhumanism is more than being technologically able to upload consciousness into machines. In its entirety, it's all about enhancing our human abilities with the aid of technology to the point that we're "no longer" human- and hence transhuman. This is why i have problems with transhumanism itself- how do you define exactly when you're no longer human because of technology? There's also something rather narcissistic about the whole idea- there's an implication that transhumans are "better" or have more worth than ordinary humans and strikes me as being rather arrogant.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Transhumanism doesn't have to be the mind transfer stuff, it can be as simply as fancy technology that improves upon humans.

Which, really, is all technology. Contact lenses, hip replacements, cosmetic surgery...that's along the same lines, but less exciting. I don't see it ever actually happening because of this, we will have technology that nowdays would be considered outlandish and miraculous, but will stop seeming so before we get it, the same as what is invented today would seem miraculous 100 years ago, but not 10 years ago.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Transhumanism is all about enhancing humanity's abilities beyond what is natural, it doesn't necessarily have to involve future technology. Given that life expectancy has doubled from what it was 50 years ago & we can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world using a smartphone, it's very easy to say we are already transhuman by ancient standards.

The application of technology needs to be thought through a lot more & designed so that it actually benefits the user. There's lots of stuff out there that is built to screw the end-user (I'll pick the Xbox 180's DRM as an example) and make profits at their expense.

Not only that, but the use of corrective eye wear and prosthetics could be considered enhancing human abilities beyond nature.

In nature, a creature with sub par sight would naturally die due to their inability to perform, contribute or provide for themselves. By using something as simple as corrective lenses, we've transcended what is considered natural and survived. I wear glasses, if not for them, I probably would have died in the wild.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Not only that, but the use of corrective eye wear and prosthetics could be considered enhancing human abilities beyond nature.

In nature, a creature with sub par sight would naturally die due to their inability to perform, contribute or provide for themselves. By using something as simple as corrective lenses, we've transcended what is considered natural and survived. I wear glasses, if not for them, I probably would have died in the wild.

Yup...and humans don't have claws either, so they invented sharp bits of rock to increase the cutting-ness of their hands.

Hell, that bit from 2001 where the apes get themselves a club and the next minute they've invented spaceflight. Well, in a few dozen thousand years, but that's next minute where evolution is concerned, they transcended the limits of their bodies.

 

[teqrevisited]

Since the beginning of our existence we've created tools to assist us and do things that we are naturally incapable of. The next logical step is integrating those solutions into ourselves.

 

[Dismal purple]

What is even the point of uploading your brain to a computer?

 

[Thaluikhain]

What is even the point of uploading your brain to a computer?

Well, you can...um...why not?

Generally the idea is that you put your mind in it after your original body dies, but that sounds more like making a computer copy of you. You still get to be dead.

 

[Senor Smoke21]

Given that life expectancy has doubled from what it was 50 years ago

What is the average life expectancy these days?
More and more people are living to be 100 but I wouldn't say that's the average.
But if it was, by your reckoning, people in the 1960's were only living to be 50?

OT: If we're talking about augmentations like Deus Ex, bio-mechanical or, was it nano-bots in the original?, then I'm all game for that.
Robo vision and robo arms would be pretty sweet.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I embrace it. I'd much rather be a robot or in a virtual world, since I wouldn't be a human then. And yeah, you probably want to look up how to use punctuation if you're going to write something longer. >_>

 

[Meatspinner]

What is even the point of uploading your brain to a computer?

No more pooping.

You can also choose any spartan you want

 

[Esotera]

Given that life expectancy has doubled from what it was 50 years ago

What is the average life expectancy these days?
More and more people are living to be 100 but I wouldn't say that's the average.
But if it was, by your reckoning, people in the 1960's were only living to be 50?

OT: If we're talking about augmentations like Deus Ex, bio-mechanical or, was it nano-bots in the original?, then I'm all game for that.
Robo vision and robo arms would be pretty sweet.

Average life expectancy in the developed world is somewhere around 80, it's probably a bit lower in other places round the planet. And it appears my original statement was incorrect, it's doubled over 100 years in the UK at least, couldn't find anything for the whole world:

 

[TrulyBritish]

What is even the point of uploading your brain to a computer?

The point? I don't understand...
Scientists do what they do for one thing...
FOR SCIENCE!
Doesn't matter if it's bad or good, all must be done in the name of SCIENCE!
...
(please note I'm not a scientist)
Seriously though, I like the idea of being able to transfer human thought into a computer run body (That specifically, as I think that's what the OP was really trying to get at rather than the entirety of transhumanism, which as others have mentioned is far more than that). Whether it turns out to be a good or bad idea I can't really say, I'm just immensely interested in the implications of such a move. Will our future be more utopian, or dystopian? Who can tell, but either way I bet it would be interesting to watch. I just hope I'll be alive to see it, but then I am only young.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Given that life expectancy has doubled from what it was 50 years ago

What is the average life expectancy these days?
More and more people are living to be 100 but I wouldn't say that's the average.
But if it was, by your reckoning, people in the 1960's were only living to be 50?

Life expectancy is most easily brought down by high infant mortality rates, not by decreasing the age at which adults die.

People may live to a hundred nowdays, that's not to say that they didn't before, but that the average age at death for all people was less.

 

[Bealzibob]

What is even the point of uploading your brain to a computer?

Well, you can...um...why not?

Generally the idea is that you put your mind in it after your original body dies, but that sounds more like making a computer copy of you. You still get to be dead.

Cept you would still be alive to the same degree that you are now. I would consider a full loss of memory closer (ie: the freak accidents where you fall, hit your head and lose large portions of your life like what happened to a prominent LoL streamer recently) to death then having your memories transplated into a braincase/hardrive. As long as you retain all your memories as they are now you will still be you. To the same degree a computer could recreate you if it had the necessary data of your personality, enviroment, etc.

It's only when the illusion is shattered that you stop being you so to speak. Though you could argue that you would react the exact same as a copy would if you were given proof that you aren't the "original" so even then it's likely entirely impossible to confidently say when a someone based off you has stopped acting like "you". You would need two of you reacting at the same time at least.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

What is Transhumanism There are a lot of things about this movement but basically its another quest for Immortality a persons consciousness downloaded into a robot and later he would download into a giant server think of a movie like the Matrix or TRON a virtual world that is limited to only your imagination but with no body to go back to.

Some people oppose the Idea some embrace it some say it?s unnatural and it?s against God?s will some say it?s the next logical step in evolution some say that it does not matter whether it?s right or wrong it?s going to happen either way and it?s important for us to become a superior race before the robots do like the movie terminator.

Some people have predicted that this Transhumanism process can happen as soon as the year 2040.

I?ve been doing lots of research on this topic and I am trying to write a page on this that approaches this from a neutral perspective so if you could give your perspective on this that would be great.

What you are referring to is called the Singularity. Transhumanism consists of various methods to improve the human body beyond natural abilities.

It doesn't even have to involve robotics of any kind. It could just be genetic.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Cept you would still be alive to the same degree that you are now. I would consider a full loss of memory closer (ie: the freak accidents where you fall, hit your head and lose large portions of your life like what happened to a prominent LoL streamer recently) to death then having your memories transplated into a braincase/hardrive. As long as you retain all your memories as they are now you will still be you. To the same degree a computer could recreate you if it had the necessary data of your personality, enviroment, etc.

It's only when the illusion is shattered that you stop being you so to speak. Though you could argue that you would react the exact same as a copy would if you were given proof that you aren't the "original" so even then it's likely entirely impossible to confidently say when a someone based off you has stopped acting like "you". You would need two of you reacting at the same time at least.

Er, there'd be a copy of you alive. You'd be dead.

Make one, two, a hundred or zero copies of something, it doesn't affect the original. Doesn't matter how good the copy is, it's not the same.

Now, this doesn't have any bearing on anyone else, of course, as far as they are concerned the new one is just fine. But you still get to die, and your copy gets to live.