1. Philosophy of Technology Transhumanism
The Next Stage In Human Evolution?

2. Transhumanism in a Nutshell
Transhumanists study the ramifications, promises and potential dangers of the use of science and technology to overcome fundamental human limitations.

3. Transhumanism in a Nutshell
Human Transhuman Posthuman
Homo sapiens sapiens
“transitional human”
See next slide.

4. Posthuman
Future beings whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards.
Augmented biological humans
Uploads
Completely synthetic artificial intelligences

5. Ronald Bailey
Of course, humans have been deliberately changing their bodies through athletic training and their brains through schooling.
Human liberation from our biological constraints began when an ancestor first sharpened a stick and used it to kill an animal for food.
Reason Magazine (August 25th, 2004).

6. Ronald Bailey
Further liberation from biological constraints followed with fire, the wheel, domesticating animals, agriculture, metallurgy, city building, textiles, information storage by means of writing, the internal combustion engine, electric power generation, antibiotics, vaccines, transplants, and contraception.

7. Kevin Bohacz
Human evolution has always been partially under our control. In the hundred generations of recorded history and millions of years before, we have been self-evolving by enhancing our bodies with technology.

8. Kevin Bohacz
30,000 generations ago in prehistoric times, we improved our fists with stone tools and clubs.
10,000 generations ago, sharpened flint and fire expanded our capabilities.

9. Transhumanist ethics has been controversial and will probably remain so in the foreseeable future.

10. Kevin Bohacz
80 generations ago in the Bronze Age, we enhanced our muscles with wheels and metal.
50 generations ago, we extended our arms with blades of iron and sheathed ourselves in armor.

11. Kevin Bohacz
Now, we are embedding electronics into our bodies, networking our thoughts, breathing in outer space, and engineering our genes. This self-evolution is accelerating at a breathtaking rate. It seems inevitable we will continue to enhance ourselves with machines and genetic manipulations.

12. Kevin Bohacz
What will healthcare be like a generation from now? The environment? War? Will we still consider ourselves human or will we be human v2.0?

13. Ten Technologies That Will Transform Your Life [LiveScience.com]
Digital Libraries Gene Therapy and Stem Cell Pervasive Wireless Internet Mobile Robots Better, Cheaper Solar Cells

14. Ten Technologies That Will Transform Your Life [LiveScience.com]
Location-Based Computing Desktop 3-D Printing Moore’s Law Upheld Therapeutic Cloning Hydrogen Economy

15. The Roots of Transhumanism
Transhumanism has its roots in secular humanism (nonreligious). Not surprisingly, most transhumanists are also secular humanists.
But not all secular humanists are (or want to be) transhumanists.
And not all transhumanists are secular humanists (e.g., Humanistic Judaism).

16. What About People Of Faith?
As an open organization, everyone is welcome to join.
We welcome criticisms of our existing beliefs while being open to new ideas.
However, we favor reason over faith, and critical questioning over dogma.

17. Organizations that Support Transhumanism
World Transhumanist Association (Humanity Plus)
Future of Humanity Institute
Extropy Institute
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Betterhumans
Foresight Nanotech Institute

18. World Transhumanist Association
Membership: 4,537 (As of 10/3/07)
Top 5 Regions
1,638 USA
974 Europe
229 Canada
164 Oceania
147 Africa
For the ethical use of technology to extend human capabilities.
Founded 1997 by Nick Bostrom & David Pearce

19. What Does the WTA Do?
support discussion and public awareness of emerging technologies;
to anticipate and propose solutions for the potential consequences of emerging technologies;
to defend the right of individuals in free and democratic societies to adopt technologies that expand human capacities.

20. What Transhumanism is Not
Racial eugenics
Transhumanist organizations are categorically opposed to pseudoscience, racism and authoritarianism.
Religious movement or cult
Most transhumanists are nontheists, but transhumanism is compatible with various forms of humanistic religious beliefs.

21. What Transhumanism is Not
A political movement
Transhumanists range across the entire spectrum of political views, although they tend toward civil libertarianism.
They do get involved in public policy discussions.

22. Transhumanist Declaration
(1) Transhumanism advocates the well-being of all sentience (whether in artificial intellects, humans, posthumans, or non- human animals) and encompasses many principles of modern humanism.

23. The Dignity and Autonomy of the Individual Is the Central Value
Liberty of thought and conscience
Freedom of inquiry
Right of individuals to pursue their own lifestyles as they see fit, so long as they do not harm others.

24. John Stuart Mill
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.”

25. Transhumanist Declaration
(2) Humanity will be radically changed by technology in the future. We foresee the feasibility of redesigning the human condition, including such parameters as the inevitability of aging, limitations on human and artificial intellects, unchosen psychology, suffering, and our confinement to the planet earth.

26. Conscious efforts by human beings to reshape their inherited physical, cognitive and emotional identities by extending lifespan and enhancing human capacities.

27. Theodosius Dobzhansky
“Evolution need no longer be a destiny imposed from without; it may conceivably be controlled by man, in accordance with his wisdom and values.”

29. "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future."
Niels Bohr
"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future."

30. Transhumanist Declaration
(3) In planning for the future, it is mandatory to take into account the prospect of dramatic progress in technological capabilities. It would be tragic if the potential benefits failed to materialize because of technophobia and unnecessary prohibitions.

31. Artificial Intelligence Information Nanotechnology
Future Advances in ….
Genetics
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Information
Nanotechnology

32. Transhumanist Declaration
(4) Transhumanists think that by being generally open and embracing of new technology we have a better chance of turning it to our advantage than if we try to ban or prohibit it.

33. Transhumanist Declaration
Transhumanists advocate the moral right for those who so wish to use technology to extend their mental and physical (including reproductive) capacities and to improve their control over their own lives. [C.f., Amish]

34. Transhumanist Declaration
(6) We need to create forums (e.g., Internet) where people can rationally debate what needs to be done, and a social order (e.g., democracy) where responsible decisions can be implemented.

35. Extending the Lifespan Replacement
First we replace our organs (which today are often rejected), then our cells and molecules nano-a-nano (not yet technologically feasible), eventually exchanging flesh for something more durable, such as silicon.
Michael Shermer

36. Extending the Lifespan Virtual
We can resurrect ourselves in virtual reality whose memory capacity is 10 to the 10^123 bytes (via uploading).
Virtual reality may be indistinguishable from everyday life. [Cf. Second Life

37. Extending the Lifespan Genetic
Telomeres at the ends of chromosomes prevent cells from replicating indefinitely. If only we could genetically reprogram normal cells to be like cancer cells.

38. The Cryonics Option Freeze and reanimate.
It sounds good in theory, but you're still a “corpsicle.” And when your tissue is thawed, your cells will be mush. And you still have to pay the electric bill in the meantime.

39. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Human, Neanderthal 20
Human, Neolithic 20
Human, Classical Greece 28
Human, Classical Rome 28
Human, Medieval England 33
Human, end of 18th Century 37
Human, early 20th Century 50
Human, circa
Human, current, (U.S.) 75 m, 80 f

40. Possible Timeline
: First tests of genetic screening against cancer, diabetes, and strokes.
2015: Treatments tailored to an individual’s genetic makeup.
2050: Average lifespan of years; better understanding of aging; diseases cured at molecular level before they arise.

41. Why Transhumanists Like Science
Evidence-based
Testable/falsifiable
Self-critical (peer-reviewed)
Fallible
Self-correcting mechanism

42. The Skeptic: Michael Shermer
“The eternal search for meaning and spiritual fulfillment often leaves us susceptible to extraordinary claims and unsubstantiated ideas, particularly in the realms of superstition and the supernatural.”

43. What Does Michael Shermer Suggest?
Proper diet and sufficient exercise are tried-and-true methods of increasing the length of your life.
These, along with modern medical technologies and sanitation practices, have nearly doubled the average lifetime over the past century.

44. Michel de Montaigne
"Live as long as you please; you will strike nothing off the time you will have to spend dead."
[Essays, bk. 1, ch. 20]

45. Group Discussion Questions
1. Isn’t this a selfish philosophy? 2. Will new technologies only benefit wealthy people? If so, can they be made available to everyone who wants them (as the transhumanists contend)? 3. Is there anything ethically wrong with using technology for enhancement (as opposed to therapeutic) purposes? Is it a selfish philosophy or can one be a transhumanist and also help others? 4. Are we tampering with human nature by using some of these technologies? If so, is it wrong to do so? 5. Is transhumanism compatible with religion? Can one be a transhumanist and also be a person of faith? 6. If people can live longer, healthier lives, what implication does that have on the insurance industry? On world population? Is there a concern that dictators like Hitler or Stalin will get their hands on some of these life-extending technologies?

46. Cloned cats glow red after exposure to ultraviolet light.