PHIL 2525 Lec 23 Transhumanism

Kenn Brown art

Julian Huxley 1957

"I believe in

transhumanism:

...once there are enough people who can truly say that, the human species will be on the threshold of a new kind of existence, as different from ours as ours is from that of Peking man. It will at last be consciously fulfilling its real destiny.“

Narcissus

…in love with his own reflection…

Technological Revolutions... Agricultural Revolution 12,000 BCE Industrial Revolution 18th C Computer Revolution 20th C

○ Nanotechnology○ Cybernetics

Transhuman Revolution ????

Technological enhancement

Technological enhancement

Technological enhancement

Technological enhancement

Science Fiction…

Science Fiction…

Science Fiction…

Science Fiction…

Science Fiction…

RFDI

RFDI

Transhumanism (H+) is an… …intellectual and cultural movement that

affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

(wikipedia)

Transhumanism (H+) is... Some Transhumanists argue that we

have a moral obligation to help the human race transcend its biological limits.

Transhumanism (H+) is... Some Transhumanists argue that we

have a moral obligation to help the human race transcend its biological limits.

Transhumanism (H+) is... Defeating death? Cheating death?

Naysayers….

Bio-Luddites

Bio-conservatives

Transhumanism is a philosophy

…the ethics of human biotechnology or genetic engineering is one of the most important cultural issues of our time….

of your time!

Transhumanism is a moral issue

A Posthuman is...

a hypothetical future being "whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards."

A Posthuman is... a hypothetical future being "whose basic

capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards."

A Posthuman is...

a hypothetical future being "whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards."

Posthuman...

Transhuman?

Who’s afraid of a little chimera?

Aims of Transhumanism…. Increase in human health span

(more than merely life span)

Extension of intellectual and physical capacities

Control of our mental states and moods

Singularity: the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence.

Hal, the thinking, talking computer in Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, shows all the capabilities of a human intelligence – including the ability to feel threatened, to protect territory, to disobey and kill. But to many people what made it most human-like was its reaction to impending "death"

Bioconservatives… Are opposed to the use of technology to

modify human nature

Believe that human enhancement technologies will undermine human dignity (i.e. be dehumanizing)

Argue for public control of such technologies

Two fears…

Posthumans might harm themselves

Posthumans might harm ‘ordinary’ humans

Ray Bradbury

"I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it."

-- Ray Bradbury

What does he mean?

Transhumanism:Carpe Diem or Playing God?

Transhumanism:Carpe Diem or Playing God?

Transhumanism:Carpe Diem or Playing God?

The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the 3rd millennium BCE and is one of the finest surviving epic poems in world literature.

Singularity

“Singularity...

the point at which technological advancement will become so rapid that the possibilities will become endless...”

Coming to a college near you...

Rutger’s University (New Jersey)

The course requires no science or technology background and is recommended for students with an art, humanities or business focus as well as anyone who anticipates working in a high technology or science-based industry or profession.

The ‘singularity’ is coming…

Based on 21st C advances in

genetics nanotechnology robotics (including artificial

intelligence)

http://www.innoeco.com/labels/Ray%20Kurzweil.html

Transhumanism is a philosophy

…the ethics of human biotechnology or genetic engineering is one of the most important cultural issues of our time….

of your time!

Transhumanism is a moral issue

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AY0RFYzsKk&feature=player_embedded

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...

Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology

Chimera

In Mythology

Parahuman... "human-animal hybrids"

The Young Family 2002-3 Artist: Patricia Piccinini

At Stanford University in California, experiments aim to create mice with human brains.

Relationship between eugenics and transhumanism...

Perfecting the human race

Humanity as a work in progress Enlightenment thinking Evolution

The Battleground?

The Battleground?

Clones Designer babies Spare parts babies Deaf babies for deaf

parents

Designer Babies....

Anna Salamon:

Research fellow at the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

The stakes around artificial intelligence are the entire world and its future.

○ http://www.vimeo.com/7318055

What do you think?

Should we aid in our own evolution?

Should we leave it up to nature?

Who should decide?

Who can decide?

Transhumanists vs. Bioconservatives

Carpe Diem or Playing God?

Designer Babies...Gattaca: Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr1IB9RVE_U&feature=related

Gattaca: Anton’s birth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok3YjypQ-84

Designer Babies - Comments by Princeton professor Lee Silver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN9ep4B9Hw0

Designer babies CBS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDLa3Jlc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

60 minutes: Gender selection instead of disease eradication? http://www.fertility-docs.com/htmldocs/Video_60Min-B.html

CSI New York: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kefoIXnLAN0&NR=1&feature=fvwp