CHRIS DUDLEY
“To be or not to be... Superman?” Transhumanism. The name sounds futuristic and slightly ridiculous, but the ideas behind it are more realistic than one might expect. Transhumanism is an “international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities.” Basically, it’s humans using science to change humans with the idea of bettering the species in general. This is a broad idea and there are several categories of transhumanism that one might look into. Timothy Leary wrote about space migration, saying that the future is found in the movement of humans into space to colonize other planets. He believed that the only way for our species to survive is to keep expanding—off the planet—and to spread into other solar systems or galaxies. 2.10 Fold your own DNA. Designed by Alex Bateman (2003) and authorized for reuse under terms of Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Annalee Newitz, on the other hand, is into biohacking. This involves editing (modifying) a human being’s physical structure, again with the goal of improving it. “Improving,” by the way, could mean anything. Adding a tail to one’s rear may be desired by a few people; to them, it’s an improvement! Biohacking isn’t just DNA editing to change us up. It can also include adding cyborg-like machines to our bodies (I, Robot, anybody?) or taking drugs that help us work better (who wants to be the Hulk?). Is it plausible that these goals could be achieved in my lifetime? Of course they can. This question seems absurd when you factor in Singularity theories about how fast technology advances these days. We’re already testing life extension drugs. We’re making breakthroughs in genetic sequencing; who knows where that will lead? We’re even making computers that can read our minds. What’s next? There are already forces that might limit the progress of transhumanism. Ahoy, religion! Anyone who reads or watches science fiction (or history) knows that religion always opposes change. Tampering with “God’s image” is sure to be a big issue. And you know that politicians will just eat that up and limit progress for years on end. Gotta love it. I’m gonna be honest and admit that I experience many emotions when I consider what the future could hold for myself and humanity in general. Transhumanism might as well be a religion to me with the amount of awe it inspires. After learning about what this movement stands for and is trying to accomplish, I would have to say that the goals are inevitable in some distant future. People will figure out how to make changes to humans and people will want them. It’s that simple! At the same time... if we make space colonies then who won’t want to go to Mars after re-watching Total Recall a good nine times? The future is being dreamed up now, and with our increasing pace of technological advancement, that dream is turning into a reality faster than we think.
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Reality Hackers : Transhuman : Reflections on the transhuman movement