WHAT IS TRANSHUMANISM PART 2

you can go back to part 1 of What is Transhumanism if you missed it.

Life Span

All humans are born with a disease that is 100% fatal. That disease is aging. Actually, scientists now believe that it is a combination of several diseases that weaken cell and tissue structures, create excess toxins and generally wear the body out. Perhaps evolution up to this point has favored a model of limited lifespan as the foundation of hereditary development. By limiting the time an organism has to be alive it is giving it a chance to use the resources of the planet, reproduce and pass on its genes to a new generation. Then the first generation ages and dies giving the new potentially mutated (evolving) generation access to the resources helping it to survive and continue the process. However, now that humans have achieved intelligence we can start to find solutions to the problem of limited resources that will negate the need for aging and death. Transhumanist not only hope to add years to peoples lives but productive years. As it has been, people start to degrade overtime becoming ill, weak and incapable of functioning as affectively as the they did earlier in life. Transhumanist want to help people maintain vitality, functionality and mental acuteness for their whole lives.

Health

Of course Transhumanist want to eliminate all disease. Medical technology has come a long way but has so much room to grow. By enhancing intelligence and creativity of the individuals dedicated to medicine the world will greatly benefit. Smarter biologists, scientists and doctors with a long productive lifespan could mean unprecedented leaps in medical technology and biological understanding. For example, the Human Genome Project was a global collaboration that took thousands of scientist over 13 years to map all the genes that make up a human. Imagine if these scientist had been enhanced with artificial intelligence and could communicate electronically from mind to mind via a collective network. And what if these dedicated scientists only needed one hour of sleep and could stay tirelessly focused and alert on detailed tasks for hours. Maybe the project would have been done in 1 year. The potential for advancement becomes clear when one starts to envision a world without the current biological limitations.

Another way to help improve health would be by removing undesirable genetic defects. Essentially this means altering embryonic genes of future generations to remove defects and disease before they can take effect. This is an area that requires much debate and analysis. For instance wanting to remove a congenital and fatal liver defect would be a clear advantage. But what about removing the trait of left handedness, homosexuality or introversion. Although some people may view certain traits as undesirable Transhumanist value diversity and equality. One thing that evolution has taught is that it's best to have variation to ensure adaptability and survival of the species. As with all issues concerning human rights, health and morality it requires an open discussion on what the best approach should be.

Technologies of Interest to Transhumanists

Transhumanist are interested in all forms of technology especially those that will help humans live longer, healthier, more productive and happier lives. Since a main concern to Transhumanist is enhancing the human body, medical and biotech sciences are of particular interest. Fields such as neurology and genetics alone have enormous potential in helping humans improve themselves. Also, robotics and cybernetics (synthetic functional implants surgically added to the body) are of interest to Transhumanist. Using prosthetics to help those with amputations has helped the field of functional prosthetics make many advances. Most excitingly the potential for direct-neuro control integration of synthetic limbs. Transhumanist want the technology to progress enough so that the addition of a synthetic limb for instance would be an improvement to the existing one. Cybernetic Implants also can apply to organ and tissue enhancements especially the brain. Implants that enhance or augment intelligence and memory capacity are highly desired because enhance intelligence could be used to develop other technologies or solve social problems.

Computers, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology are important areas of research to Transhumanist. In fact, all the technologies listed above are beginning to be much more interconnected. This is referred to as the convergence of technology. This process of exponential technological advancement and convergence is believed to result in an inevitable breakthrough known as the Technological Singularity. The Singularity is believed to be the creation of a Super Intelligence either artificial or enhanced human in nature. This Super Intelligence could create enhancements to its own design that its creators wouldn't have been able to conceive of. Many concerns surround this prospect. Transhumanist would want to protect this intelligence and ensure its freedom to function, while making sure that its intentions towards humans are benevolent.

Urgency of Transhumanism

Since Transhumanism is reletively in its infancy many of the technologies that Transhumanists hope for are not developed enough yet. So many Transhumanist, especially aging ones, are interested in technology that will extend their lives longer so that they will be able to benefit from future technology. They are also interested in cryonics (the freezing of human bodies or tissues with the intent to reanimate later) through which they could be placed in status until a time when the technology they hope for is developed. Another potential technique of preserving some one is through brain uploading. If people could upload their knowledge, memories and maybe even personalities into a computer they could then be downloaded into a synthetic body later. The potential for fully synthetic bodies or cyborg bodies that house the brain are thus also of interest to Transhumanists. The study of neural nets and artificial brain structures that can duplicate or surpass human consciousness would be a paramount achievement in these aims.

Contemporary Transhumanist can live in ways that will help work towards the goals they seek by exploring methods of life extension, by maintaining a healthy diet and good physical condition and by dedicating themselves to broadening their understanding.

Continue to Part 3 of What is Transhumanism