Discussion What are your thoughts on transhumanism?

[ggetout33]

Apologies if this sounds fucking crazy, I'm just writing out my thoughts out loud.

I've been looking at transhumanism for some time now, and it's an idea I kinda like. In nature, all we exist for, in a biological sense, is to breed, consume resources, then get old and die. Now some people either can't or don't want to have kids and I have no problem with that, hell I don't want kids myself. I hate my human body because of how weak, yet demanding and needy it is. I hate how all of my bodily needs have been and continue to be exploited by capitalism.

I also hate struggling with autism, adhd, depression, body image issues and binge eating. I hate the social isolation that comes with being autistic and male.

Transhumanism appeals to me because it means I could (in the very far future) hopefully live in a world where I am not bound to such a body, where I can live free of such weaknesses. But I've seldom found any groups that also support this line of thought. A lot of my issues stem from the weakness of the body and brain I was born in. Particularly the mental and social deficiencies due to ADD and Autism.

Religious groups are often the ones that preach that we are more than just our flesh and bone. But do very little to actually make that a reality. They don't support the technology that could free us from our human bodies, or they actively shun/sabotage it because the tech doesn't fall in line with their dogma. They often refuse to understand the world outside their bubble and dismiss it as Satanic or something similar. Not to mention how hypocritical, greedy, and corrupt the supposed "holy" institutions can be.

Religions often assume that "becoming free of our bodies" happens after death anyways, so they assume there's no reason to make that a reality in this world.

Atheists on the other hand, I can't really say much about. While I myself am an atheist, no two atheists are exactly alike. The only real definition of one is not believing in a god. Other than that, you can believe in all kinds of crazy shit but still be "atheist" by that virtue alone. But while they are right that we only get one life and there is no afterlife, I feel like a lot of them just resign themselves to that reality without endorsing and contributing to tech that might take us beyond our natural limits. Can't say I blame them because that tech is obviously very far off. I'd be very old if I got to see it at all.

My only fear with transhumanism is that capitalism, if it's still around then, would undoubtedly corrupt and monetize it like it does everything else. Religious elites would probably hog the tech to themselves and say they were blessed by God to be immortal while the not-rich plebs are stuck in their aging, decrepit flesh. Or capitalism strongarms everyone into modifying their bodies against their will, trap them in jobs, and if they try to quit or rebel, take away the cyborg parts and leave people disabled. Or if we're in a war (when isn't there a war?) injured soldiers could be forced to fight again after enduring the worst shit in their life, just because the army stuck a bunch of cheap cyborg limbs on them and called it a day.

 

[MarsProxy]

I would've said I was transhumanist years ago, before a lot of things happened to change my views much like recent events in the world and in my life. It would definitely be controlled by big corporations and distorted into a mess for everyone except the wealthy elites.

 

[Mirrory Me]

I've been thinking, for example, if human consciousness could be transferred to a state where it could become anything, then what would it be.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Personally, living forever- even in some perfect body in a utopia somehow still doesn't appeal! Maybe that's when you really know you want out... when even utopia sounds like too much effort! Lol.

I guess it's a similar suspicion to you though- trust issues. I don't trust the very nature of human beings. I just think we're intrinsically such a destructive, exploitative race. I guess the thought at the back of my mind is- what precious resource have 'we' stripped off a planet to build this new race? What other creatures became extinct in order for us to gain this? We're not terribly good at living in harmony with our surroundings. If I'm honest- the thoughts of some scientist trying to prolong our life or to transport it onto some other poor unsuspecting planet fills me with dread!

What comforts me far more is watching Urbex videos where buildings are abandoned and nature takes them back. It makes me think what a great sigh of relief this planet will metaphorically take when we've managed to make ourselves extinct! This planet would be so much better off without us.

 

[Tears in Rain]

Transhumanism appeals to me because it means I could (in the very far future) hopefully live in a world where I am not bound to such a body, where I can live free of such weaknesses. But I've seldom found any groups that also support this line of thought. A lot of my issues stem from the weakness of the body and brain I was born in. Particularly the mental and social deficiencies due to ADD and Autism.


My only fear with transhumanism is that capitalism, if it's still around then, would undoubtedly corrupt and monetize it like it does everything else.

Some A.I. experts believe that humans will one day be able to transfer their minds/consciousness to a cyborg, or to another entity. I think it would be appealing if you could transfer temporarily to other entities, it would give a greater life experience, instead of being stuck in one monotonous life.

Obviously, it woul be great for people who are physically and mentally hampered, if they could transcend their situation.

But like you say, capitalism will definitely try and monetize it. But on the other hand, If there's money to be made from it, capitalism will also drive it's innovation.

Unfortunately, it probably won't happen in our lifetime. (And A.I. may wipe us out before it does).

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

It's scary to me.
Imagine if they find a way to upload you to a quantum computer and make you work some menial job for the eternity.
At least with physical body there's an escape with death.

 

[ggetout33]

It's scary to me.
Imagine if they find a way to upload you to a quantum computer and make you work some menial job for the eternity.
At least with physical body there's an escape with death.

Now that's even scarier than what I originally imagined. And I know for sure capitalists would try that shit.

 

[CrazyDiamond04]

It's awesome. I want a robot arm that can shoot lasers out of it.

 

[DarkRange55]

As far as genetics, cybernetic or otherwise I'm sure it will happen eventually. I'm not sure how I feel about it for myself. It's just like anything else, we have to have a breathing period with the introduction of new technologies so the shit doesn't get out of control. And that's really a revolutionary thing, that would change humanity, we have to sit and think about it for a little while. Be careful about it. But the way that things work in this country at least they would be forced on us and six months after it was introduced everyone would have genetic, cybernetic implants and a year later everyone would be turned into zombies or some something.

As for going beyond the solar system, by the time we accomplish that we probably will have merged our minds with ageless machines....

Very likely we will upload our consciousness, but an alternative is that we will keep embedding hardware in our bodies until our bodies are no longer dominated by biology.

The next steps will be to master replacing mitochondria, and then reverse engineering what our original embryonic stem cells were and replicating them to replace defective cells in our bodies.
That will set the foundation for editing our own genomes as well as for immortality.

One thing to note, however, is that even if it starts as you, if the hardware is different it will learn very differently in the future from the way your current wetware would learn.

Replacing everything should be possible – first would be a mitochondrial replacement that would basically cut most aging processes to a few percent of what they are now, and then massive injections of stem cells coupled by drugs to get rid of senescent cells.
I picture the process of being taking multiple current mitochondria, sequencing them to figure out, and then re-create what the original mitochondria you inherited were like, replicating those new "original" mitochondria, packaging them in tailored stem cells, and letting the stem cells inject them into your cells.
A Similar process would be applied to stem cells; multiple current cells from various organs would be sequenced to re-create your original pluripotent stem cells, probably with a few enhancements such as ramping up repair mechanisms.
In both cases the body would do most of the work of replacement.
That still leaves long-lived cells like neurons to worry about, but at least those would be healthy due to the mitochondrial replacement.

I personally favor the merger scenario – our primate brain did not get rid of our mammalian brain, which didn't get rid of our reptilian brain, which in turn did not get rid of our chordate reflexes, which in turn did not get rid of our genetic intelligence in the individual cells, so why would we expect our electronic intelligence to get rid of our current intelligence rather than becoming another layer?